ISC2 CC Business Continuity, DR & Incident Response Practice Question
A small manufacturing company's IT infrastructure consists of a single server running ERP and file services, with a nightly backup to an external hard drive. The server fails due to hardware failure. The company's BCP states that the ERP system must be restored within 8 hours. The backup is 12 hours old. The IT administrator has a spare server of similar configuration. What is the BEST course of action?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse 'bare-metal restore' with a simple file restore, assuming the backup contains a full system image, when in fact the backup is to an external hard drive and likely file-level, making a bare-metal restore impossible without a compatible system image.
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
✓
Install the backup onto the spare server and restore the data from the external hard drive.
The spare server has a similar configuration, allowing the IT administrator to install the backup software and restore the ERP system and file data from the external hard drive. This approach meets the 8-hour RTO by leveraging the existing backup, even though it is 12 hours old, as the restore process is straightforward and does not require ordering new hardware or migrating to a cloud platform.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use cloud-based ERP temporarily.
Why it's wrong here
Migration to cloud takes time and may not be immediate.
- ✗
Perform a bare-metal restore using the backup.
Why it's wrong here
Bare-metal restore requires specialized preparation and may not succeed on dissimilar hardware.
- ✓
Install the backup onto the spare server and restore the data from the external hard drive.
Why this is correct
Utilizes spare server and meets RTO.
- ✗
Order a new server from the vendor (lead time 3 days).
Why it's wrong here
Exceeds the 8-hour RTO.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Network Security Components and Controls
Key term
RTO
Recovery Time Objective is the maximum acceptable time to restore a system or data after a disaster, defining how quickly normal operations must resume.
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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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CC practice question is part of Courseiva's free ISC2 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 CC exam.