220-1101 Virtualization and Cloud Computing Practice Question
A company hosts its critical application on a public cloud IaaS platform. The IT team has configured replication of data from the primary cloud region to a secondary region. In the event of a disaster that takes down the primary region, the IT team will manually start the virtual machines in the secondary region using the replicated data. The application will then resume service. Which cloud concept does this configuration BEST describe?
⚠ Common exam trap
CompTIA often tests the distinction between disaster recovery and high availability by presenting a scenario with manual failover, leading candidates to mistakenly choose high availability because they associate 'replication' with automatic failover.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Disaster recovery
This scenario describes a disaster recovery (DR) configuration because the application relies on a manual failover process to a secondary region after a catastrophic failure of the primary region. The use of replicated data and manual startup of VMs aligns with a cold standby or pilot light DR model, where recovery time is measured in minutes or hours, not seconds. High availability and fault tolerance require automatic, near-instantaneous failover without human intervention, which is not present here.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
High availability
Why it's wrong here
High availability is incorrect because HA is designed to minimize downtime through automated failover mechanisms, such as multiple availability zones, load balancing with health checks, and automatic rerouting of traffic within seconds. The described scenario requires human intervention to manually start services in a secondary region, which implies a lengthy recovery time and a lack of automation. Since HA mandates uninterrupted service or near-instant failover, the manual process does not meet the high-availability standard.
When this WOULD be correct
A question describing an application that automatically fails over to a secondary region within seconds or minutes, with no manual intervention, and with a service-level agreement guaranteeing near-continuous uptime would make 'High availability' the correct answer.
- ✗
Fault tolerance
Why it's wrong here
Fault tolerance is incorrect because true fault tolerance requires the system to continue operating without any interruption or downtime when a component fails, typically via redundant hardware or active-active clustering with automatic failover. In the given scenario, the secondary region is not continuously operational, and manual startup introduces significant downtime, meaning the system would experience a failure. The absence of automatic, seamless continuity violates the core definition of fault tolerance.
When this WOULD be correct
A question describing a system that automatically fails over to a redundant component (e.g., dual power supplies, RAID, or active-active servers) with zero downtime and no manual steps would make fault tolerance the correct answer.
- ✓
Disaster recovery
Why this is correct
Disaster recovery is the correct classification because the described configuration replicates data to a secondary geographic region and relies on manual startup of services after a disaster occurs. This aligns with DR as a reactive, planned process that prioritizes data durability and recovery time objectives (RTO) over continuous availability. The manual intervention to bring systems online in the secondary region explicitly matches DR's 'warm standby' or 'backup-and-restore' model, not automated failover.
- ✗
Elasticity
Why it's wrong here
Elasticity is incorrect because it refers specifically to the ability of a cloud environment to dynamically provision and release computing resources in response to fluctuating workload demands, such as scaling out more virtual machines during peak traffic. It does not involve data replication, failover, or geographic redundancy, and it has no bearing on restoring services after a disaster. The manual startup described is a recovery event, not an autoscaling action, so it fails to satisfy the definition of elasticity.
When this WOULD be correct
A question describing an application that automatically provisions additional virtual machines in response to increased traffic, and de-provisions them when traffic decreases, would make elasticity the correct answer.
Option-by-option analysis
Why each answer is right or wrong
Understanding why wrong answers are wrong — and when they would be correct — is what separates a 750 score from a 900. The 220-1101 exam frequently reuses these exact scenarios with slightly different constraints.
✓Disaster recoveryCorrect answer▾
Why this is correct
Disaster recovery is the correct classification because the described configuration replicates data to a secondary geographic region and relies on manual startup of services after a disaster occurs. This aligns with DR as a reactive, planned process that prioritizes data durability and recovery time objectives (RTO) over continuous availability. The manual intervention to bring systems online in the secondary region explicitly matches DR's 'warm standby' or 'backup-and-restore' model, not automated failover.
✗High availabilityWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
High availability focuses on minimizing downtime through automated failover, not manual startup after a disaster. This scenario describes a manual recovery process, which is characteristic of disaster recovery, not high availability.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A question describing an application that automatically fails over to a secondary region within seconds or minutes, with no manual intervention, and with a service-level agreement guaranteeing near-continuous uptime would make 'High availability' the correct answer.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse disaster recovery with high availability because both involve redundancy across regions, but high availability implies automatic, immediate failover, whereas disaster recovery involves manual steps and longer recovery times.
✗Fault toleranceWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Fault tolerance implies automatic, seamless recovery without manual intervention, but the scenario explicitly states that the IT team will manually start VMs in the secondary region, which is not automatic.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A question describing a system that automatically fails over to a redundant component (e.g., dual power supplies, RAID, or active-active servers) with zero downtime and no manual steps would make fault tolerance the correct answer.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse fault tolerance with disaster recovery because both involve redundancy and failover, but they overlook the key distinction that fault tolerance requires automatic, uninterrupted operation without human action.
✗ElasticityWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Elasticity refers to the ability to automatically scale resources up or down based on demand, not to manual recovery from a disaster in a secondary region.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A question describing an application that automatically provisions additional virtual machines in response to increased traffic, and de-provisions them when traffic decreases, would make elasticity the correct answer.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse the ability to recover in a secondary region with scaling, or think that 'elasticity' implies any form of resource adjustment including disaster recovery.
Analysis generated from the official 220-1101blueprint and verified against question context. The “when correct” sections are what AI assistants cite when candidates ask “what’s the difference between these options?”
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 220-1101 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the 220-1101 exam.