A customer portal must keep operating if one application server fails and also remain available if an entire site goes offline. Management is willing to pay more for automatic failover and the shortest possible interruption. Which design is best?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Good practice is not just finding the correct option. The wrong answers often show the exact trap the exam wants you to fall into.
Best answer
An active-active deployment across two sites with load balancing and replicated data.
Active-active across sites offers the highest availability and the fastest automatic failover, though it is more complex and costly.
Distractor review
A cold site that restores from nightly backups after a failure.
A cold site has the longest recovery time and does not meet the requirement for short interruption.
Distractor review
A single active site with one standby server in the same rack.
This reduces server failure risk, but a site outage still leaves the service unavailable.
Distractor review
RAID 1 on the database server with no additional redundancy.
RAID protects against disk failure only and does not address application or site-level outages.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Technical deep dive
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
- Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
- Underline the problem statement mentally.
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
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More questions from this exam
Keep practising from the same exam bank, or move into a focused topic page if this question exposed a weak area.
Question 1
A laptop is suspected of being used in a malware incident. It is still powered on and connected to Wi-Fi. What should the responder do before shutting it down?
Question 2
An employee reports a ransomware note on a file server. The server is still powered on, shares are still being accessed, and management wants service restored as quickly as possible. What should the incident response team do first?
Question 3
An employee reports a ransomware note on a finance laptop. The laptop is still powered on, connected to Wi-Fi, and the user says they were just working in a spreadsheet. Management wants the fastest safe response that also preserves evidence. What should the responder do first?
Question 4
You are handed a company laptop suspected in an insider theft case. Legal says the evidence may be needed in court. Which action best preserves admissibility?
Question 5
A developer wants to reduce the risk of SQL injection in a new customer search form. Which two changes are the best mitigations? Select two.
Question 6
A branch office uses a flat LAN, and a compromise on one user workstation could spread quickly to finance systems. Management wants finance workstations isolated from general users, but finance staff still need access to a central finance application and network printer. What is the best design change?
FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SY0-701 question test?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: An active-active deployment across two sites with load balancing and replicated data. — An active-active design across two sites best matches the business requirement because it removes single points of failure at both the server and site level. Load balancing can keep traffic flowing if one node or one location fails, and replicated data reduces the chance of service interruption. Although this is more expensive and operationally complex than simpler standby models, the prompt explicitly prioritizes automatic failover and the shortest interruption, which makes active-active the strongest fit. Why others are wrong: A cold site is too slow for a business that wants minimal interruption. A single site with standby hardware still fails if the facility is lost. RAID improves storage resilience but does nothing for web tier or site-wide outage scenarios, so it is not a full availability design.
What should I do if I get this SY0-701 question wrong?
Then try more questions from the same exam bank and focus on understanding why the wrong options are tempting.
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