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.
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Related to this question
Learn chapter
Troubleshooting Security Issues and Using Diagnostic Tools
Key term
Internet
The Internet is a global network of interconnected computers that communicate using standardized protocols to share information and services.
Key term
Business Continuity Planning
Business Continuity Planning is the process of creating a strategy to keep an organization's essential functions running during and after a major disruption.
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Same concept, more angles
1 more way this is tested on SK0-005
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 small law firm has a single on-premises server running their case management software, email, and document storage. They perform a full backup each night at 11 PM to an external USB 4 TB drive, which is then stored on a shelf in the server room. The server room is located in the basement of their office building. Last week, an electrical fire started in the server room, completely destroying the server and the backup drive. The firm lost all data since the last backup, and it took two weeks to procure new hardware and restore from an older, off-site backup that was taken during a manual process three months ago. Their insurance company now requires a formal disaster recovery plan. The firm has a limited budget and minimal IT staff. They want to prevent data loss and minimize downtime in future disasters. What is the BEST course of action to improve their disaster recovery capabilities?
easy- ✓ A.Subscribe to a cloud backup service that performs automatic daily backups to a remote data center.
- B.Increase backup frequency to every hour and store the drive in a desk drawer in a different room on the same floor.
- C.Purchase a fireproof safe for the server room and store the USB backup drive in it after each backup.
- D.Install a second server on-site and configure real-time mirroring between the two servers.
Why A: Option B is correct because cloud backup automatically sends data to a remote location, satisfying the off-site requirement of the 3-2-1 backup rule, is cost-effective for a small firm, and requires little IT overhead. Option A is wrong because mirroring on-site still leaves them vulnerable to site-wide disasters like fire. Option C is wrong because a fireproof safe does not protect against all disaster types and keeps the backup on-site. Option D is wrong because it still stores the backup on-site, increasing cost and management without solving the off-site need.
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed July 2026 · checked against the official CompTIA exam blueprint
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.