Question 27 of 144
SK0-005 security-disaster-recovery Practice Question
A small accounting firm has a single server that hosts their client database and financial applications. The server is backed up nightly using a full backup to an external USB hard drive, which is stored on a shelf next to the server. Last month, a fire broke out in the office, completely destroying the server and the backup drive. The company lost all data since their last offsite backup, which was six months old because they occasionally took a copy home. The business owner wants to prevent such a catastrophic data loss in the future but is concerned about cost and complexity. They have a limited IT budget and no dedicated IT staff. The firm operates 9-5 Monday to Friday, and can tolerate up to 24 hours of downtime and up to one day of data loss. After the fire, they had to rebuild their client records from paper files, which took weeks. The owner realizes the importance of an offsite backup routine but cannot afford an expensive cloud service or a second server. The firm's internet connection is a basic DSL line with limited upload bandwidth, making large cloud backups slow. The server has a single internal drive with enough free space to store additional copies. Which of the following backup strategies would best meet the firm’s recovery objectives while minimizing cost and complexity?
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
✓
Continue nightly full backups to an external drive, but have an employee take the drive home every evening.
Option B is correct because it provides a daily offsite backup, limiting data loss to at most 24 hours, which meets the RPO. It requires minimal additional cost (just the external drive) and no complex technology, fitting the firm's budget and lack of IT staff. Option A (cloud backup) would exceed the slow internet connection's capability and likely incur ongoing subscription costs, making it less suitable. Option C (NAS in another room) does not protect against a site-wide disaster like fire, so it fails to provide offsite redundancy. Option D (weekly rotation) would result in an offsite copy that is up to a week old, violating the one-day RPO.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Buy a second external drive, alternate them, and keep one offsite at the owner’s house, rotating weekly.
Why it's wrong here
A weekly rotation means the offsite drive contains data up to seven days old, which exceeds the one-day RPO, leading to unacceptable data loss in a disaster.
- ✓
Continue nightly full backups to an external drive, but have an employee take the drive home every evening.
Why this is correct
This simple, low-cost solution ensures an offsite copy is no more than 24 hours old, satisfying the RPO, and requires no new technology or significant expense.
- ✗
Purchase a network-attached storage device and configure it to receive daily backups; place it in a different room in the building.
Why it's wrong here
An on-site NAS remains vulnerable to the same physical disaster (fire), so it does not provide offsite protection and data could still be lost.
- ✗
Subscribe to a cloud backup service and perform daily incremental backups over the internet.
Why it's wrong here
The firm's limited DSL bandwidth would make cloud backups slow and possibly fail to complete within the backup window; also, cloud services introduce recurring costs and complexity beyond their budget and skillset.
Visual reference
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Last reviewed: Jul 26, 2026
This SK0-005 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 SK0-005 exam.
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