ISC2 CC Practice Question: Business Continuity, Disaster Recovery, and Incident Response
A company is creating a backup strategy for its critical database. The database is updated continuously, and the company can tolerate up to 2 hours of data loss. Which TWO backup methods would best help achieve a recovery point objective (RPO) of 2 hours? (Select TWO.)
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap is assuming 'daily' backups satisfy a 2-hour RPO — candidates must convert RPO into a backup frequency requirement (backup interval ≤ RPO) rather than picking the most familiar schedule.
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
✓
Hourly full backups
The RPO of 2 hours means backups must capture data at least every 2 hours, so option D (Hourly full backups) is correct because running a full backup every hour guarantees a maximum data loss of 1 hour, which is within the 2-hour RPO. Option E (Transaction log backups every 30 minutes) is also correct because transaction log backups capture all committed transactions since the last log backup, limiting potential data loss to 30 minutes, well inside the 2-hour RPO, and they are the standard method for continuous-update databases. Options A (Monthly full backups) and B (Weekly full backups) are far too infrequent, allowing up to a month or a week of data loss respectively, which violates the 2-hour RPO. Option C (Daily full backups) only captures data once every 24 hours, so up to 24 hours of updates could be lost, also exceeding the 2-hour 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.
- ✗
Monthly full backups
Why it's wrong here
Monthly full backups leave up to a month of data unprotected, far exceeding the two-hour RPO. They suit long-term archival retention rather than frequent recovery points. Transaction log or differential backups taken within the two-hour window are needed to meet the stated tolerance.
- ✗
Weekly full backups
Why it's wrong here
Weekly full backups leave up to seven days of transactions unprotected, vastly exceeding the two-hour RPO. They fit scenarios where a week of loss is acceptable, such as non-critical archives. Achieving a two-hour RPO demands transaction log backups taken within that interval.
- ✗
Daily full backups
Why it's wrong here
Daily full backups expose up to 24 hours of lost transactions, breaching the two-hour RPO. They are appropriate when the business tolerates a full day of data loss. Meeting a two-hour RPO requires transaction log backups captured at intervals within that window.
- ✓
Hourly full backups
Why this is correct
Hourly full backups capture the entire database every hour, so at most one hour of committed transactions is lost, comfortably meeting the two-hour RPO. The stem's continuous-update and two-hour tolerance constraints are satisfied by this cadence.
- ✓
Transaction log backups every 30 minutes
Why this is correct
Transaction log backups every 30 minutes capture committed transactions at half-hour intervals, limiting potential data loss to well under the two-hour RPO. This satisfies the stem's continuous-update constraint because log backups record every committed change between full backups.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery
Key term
Recovery
Recovery is the process of restoring systems, data, and operations after a security incident, failure, or disaster to return to normal functioning.
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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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 ISC2 exam blueprint
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