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CCSP Practice Question: A cloud architect is designing a disaster…
A cloud architect is designing a disaster recovery (DR) solution for a critical application with a recovery time objective (RTO) of 30 minutes and a recovery point objective (RPO) of 5 minutes. The application runs on virtual machines in a private cloud. The architect is considering using a colocation facility as the DR site. Which replication method will meet the RPO requirement?
⚠ Common exam trap
ISC2 often tests the misconception that synchronous replication is always the best choice for low RPO, but the trap here is that RPO is not the only constraint—RTO and network latency must also be considered, and periodic snapshots can meet a 5-minute RPO without the performance penalties of synchronous replication over a WAN link.
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
✓
Periodic snapshots every 5 minutes
Synchronous replication can achieve an RPO of zero, which surpasses the 5-minute requirement, but it may not be suitable for this scenario due to network latency or cost constraints over a WAN link to a colocation facility. Periodic snapshots every 5 minutes exactly match the RPO and are more practical for a private cloud to colocation DR setup, capturing the VM state at the required interval without the complexity or latency constraints of synchronous replication.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Synchronous replication
Why it's wrong here
Synchronous replication technically meets the RPO of 5 minutes as it provides zero data loss. However, in a private cloud to colocation scenario, the required low-latency link may not be feasible due to distance or bandwidth constraints, making it impractical for this design. The question asks which method will meet the RPO requirement, and while synchronous replication can meet it, the architect must consider practicality. Periodic snapshots are more realistic for this environment.
- ✗
Periodic snapshots every 15 minutes
Why it's wrong here
RPO of 15 minutes exceeds the required 5 minutes.
- ✓
Periodic snapshots every 5 minutes
Why this is correct
Correct: Provides RPO of 5 minutes if snapshots are taken every 5 minutes.
- ✗
Asynchronous replication with a delay of 10 minutes
Why it's wrong here
RPO of 10 minutes exceeds the required 5 minutes.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CCSP 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 CCSP exam.