- A
Place the application behind a load balancer with health checks.
A load balancer can send traffic away from a failed server and toward healthy ones. Health checks are important because they let the platform detect when an instance should stop receiving requests.
- B
Run the application on a single server with nightly backups.
Why wrong: Backups help recovery after data loss, but they do not keep the service running during a server failure. A single server also creates a clear availability bottleneck.
- C
Deploy at least two application servers in the same service pool.
Having multiple application servers provides redundancy, which is necessary for failover. If one server goes down, the remaining server can continue serving users through the balancer or cluster.
- D
Disable health checks to avoid false failovers.
Why wrong: Disabling health checks removes the mechanism that detects server problems. That would make the environment slower to recover and less reliable, not more resilient.
- E
Put the database on the public internet for easier access.
Why wrong: Exposing the database publicly increases risk without improving server redundancy. Availability and security both suffer when internal components are unnecessarily internet-facing.
Quick Answer
The answer is deploying at least two application servers in the same service pool behind a load balancer with health checks. This is correct because a load balancer uses health checks—such as HTTP/HTTPS probes or TCP port checks—to continuously monitor server responsiveness; when one server fails, the load balancer automatically redirects traffic to the remaining healthy servers, ensuring high availability without manual intervention. On the Security+ SY0-701 exam, this concept tests your understanding of fault tolerance and redundancy in network architecture, often appearing in questions about minimizing single points of failure. A common trap is confusing active-passive clustering with a simple load-balanced pool—remember that the simplest automatic failover requires only multiple servers in the same pool, not complex clustering software. Memory tip: “Two servers, one pool, health checks rule—if one goes down, the other stays cool.”
SY0-701 Security Architecture Practice Question
This SY0-701 practice question tests your understanding of security architecture. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A web application must keep running if one application server fails. Management wants the simplest design that automatically switches traffic to a healthy server. Which two choices support that goal? Select two.
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
Place the application behind a load balancer with health checks.
Option A is correct because a load balancer with health checks can automatically detect a failed application server and redirect traffic to healthy servers, ensuring continuous availability. This is the simplest design that meets the requirement for automatic failover without manual intervention. Health checks typically use HTTP/HTTPS probes or TCP port checks to verify server responsiveness.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Place the application behind a load balancer with health checks.
Why this is correct
A load balancer can send traffic away from a failed server and toward healthy ones. Health checks are important because they let the platform detect when an instance should stop receiving requests.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Run the application on a single server with nightly backups.
Why it's wrong here
Backups help recovery after data loss, but they do not keep the service running during a server failure. A single server also creates a clear availability bottleneck.
- ✓
Deploy at least two application servers in the same service pool.
Why this is correct
Having multiple application servers provides redundancy, which is necessary for failover. If one server goes down, the remaining server can continue serving users through the balancer or cluster.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Disable health checks to avoid false failovers.
Why it's wrong here
Disabling health checks removes the mechanism that detects server problems. That would make the environment slower to recover and less reliable, not more resilient.
- ✗
Put the database on the public internet for easier access.
Why it's wrong here
Exposing the database publicly increases risk without improving server redundancy. Availability and security both suffer when internal components are unnecessarily internet-facing.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may think a single server with backups (Option B) provides high availability, but backups only protect data, not uptime, and failover requires redundant servers and automatic traffic switching.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
A load balancer with health checks typically uses periodic probes (e.g., HTTP 200 OK, TCP SYN-ACK) to assess server health; if a server fails consecutive checks, it is removed from the pool. In a real-world scenario, combining a load balancer with at least two application servers (Option C) creates an active-passive or active-active cluster, where the load balancer distributes traffic and automatically reroutes on failure. This design aligns with the principle of redundancy and is commonly implemented using technologies like HAProxy, NGINX, or cloud-native load balancers.
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.
TExam Day Tips
- 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.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A security analyst at a medium-sized enterprise encounters this scenario during an investigation or architecture review. The correct answer reflects best practice for the specific threat or control described. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Security exam questions test whether you can match controls to threats in context — not just recall definitions.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SY0-701 question test?
Security Architecture — This question tests Security Architecture — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Place the application behind a load balancer with health checks. — Option A is correct because a load balancer with health checks can automatically detect a failed application server and redirect traffic to healthy servers, ensuring continuous availability. This is the simplest design that meets the requirement for automatic failover without manual intervention. Health checks typically use HTTP/HTTPS probes or TCP port checks to verify server responsiveness.
What should I do if I get this SY0-701 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Same concept, more angles
1 more ways this is tested on SY0-701
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A payment application must keep running if one application server fails, and the business can tolerate no more than 5 minutes of lost transactions and 30 minutes of downtime during a site outage. Which two controls best match the availability requirements? Select two.
hard- ✓ A.Deploy at least two active application nodes behind a load balancer so one server failure does not interrupt service.
- B.Use a cold site that is powered off until a disaster is declared.
- ✓ C.Configure near-real-time database replication or synchronous replication to a standby so recent transactions are preserved.
- D.Take nightly backups to meet the 5-minute recovery point objective.
- E.Rely on weekly VM snapshots because they are faster than replication.
Why A: Option A is correct because deploying at least two active application nodes behind a load balancer ensures that if one server fails, traffic is automatically redirected to the remaining healthy node(s), achieving zero downtime for the application itself. This directly meets the requirement that the payment application must keep running if one application server fails, without any interruption to service.
Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
This SY0-701 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 SY0-701 exam.
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