CV0-004 Cloud Architecture and Design Practice Question
A cloud architect is designing a disaster recovery plan for a critical application. Which TWO metrics should be defined to establish recovery objectives?
⚠ Common exam trap
CV0-004 often tests the confusion between recovery metrics (RPO/RTO) and reliability metrics (MTBF/MTTR), or the misconception that an SLA itself defines recovery objectives rather than being a document that references them.
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
✓
RPO (Recovery Point Objective)
RPO (Recovery Point Objective) is correct because it defines the maximum acceptable amount of data loss measured in time, establishing how far back the recovery must restore data and thus driving backup frequency. RTO (Recovery Time Objective) is correct because it defines the maximum acceptable downtime, i.e., how quickly the application must be restored after a disruption, which directly shapes the DR architecture and failover strategy. Together, RPO and RTO are the two standard recovery objectives used to design and validate a disaster recovery plan. MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) is a reliability metric describing expected time between hardware/component failures, not a recovery objective. SLA (Service Level Agreement) is a contractual document that may reference RPO/RTO but is not itself a recovery metric. MTTR (Mean Time to Repair) measures average time to fix a failed component, which is an operational metric rather than a defined recovery objective.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
RPO (Recovery Point Objective)
Why this is correct
RPO defines the maximum tolerable data loss measured in time, determining how frequently backups or replication must occur. It directly satisfies the stem's requirement to establish recovery objectives by quantifying the acceptable gap between the last recoverable data point and the failure moment.
- ✗
MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures)
Why it's wrong here
MTBF measures average elapsed time between failures, describing component reliability rather than how much data or time the business can lose. It is tempting because reliability data informs redundancy design, and would be the correct metric when selecting hardware or planning preventive replacement, not for establishing recovery objectives.
- ✓
RTO (Recovery Time Objective)
Why this is correct
RTO specifies the maximum acceptable downtime before the application must be restored, driving the recovery strategy's speed and automation. It satisfies the stem's requirement to establish recovery objectives by quantifying how quickly service must resume after disruption.
- ✗
SLA (Service Level Agreement)
Why it's wrong here
An SLA is a contractual commitment covering service expectations, not a metric quantifying tolerable outage duration or data loss, so it cannot itself establish recovery objectives. It is tempting because SLAs often reference availability percentages, and would be the correct artefact when negotiating penalties or credits with a provider.
- ✗
MTTR (Mean Time to Repair)
Why it's wrong here
MTTR measures how long repair takes once a failure occurs, which describes operational responsiveness rather than the recovery objectives themselves. It is tempting because repair speed shapes resilience planning, and would be the correct metric when setting maintenance or support targets, whereas RTO and RPO define recovery objectives.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official CompTIA exam blueprint
This CV0-004 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 CV0-004 exam.