CISSP Security Operations Practice Question
A company is designing a disaster recovery strategy for its e-commerce platform. The platform requires an RTO of 2 hours and an RPO of 15 minutes. Which TWO strategies would BEST meet these requirements?
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
✓
Cloud DR with continuous data replication
Hot site and cloud DR with continuous replication can meet aggressive RTO/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.
- ✗
Tape backup restoration
Why it's wrong here
Tape backup restoration involves physically retrieving tapes, mounting them, and sequentially restoring data, which is an inherently time-consuming process. This method typically requires significant manual intervention and can take many hours, or even days, to fully recover critical systems and data. Consequently, it is generally unsuitable for meeting stringent Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPOs) required for modern business continuity.
- ✓
Cloud DR with continuous data replication
Why this is correct
Cloud-based Disaster Recovery (DR) leverages the scalability and elasticity of cloud infrastructure to provide a highly agile recovery environment. Continuous data replication ensures that data changes are synchronized almost instantaneously to the cloud DR site, achieving a near-zero Recovery Point Objective (RPO). When a disaster strikes, virtual machines and services can be rapidly provisioned and spun up in the cloud, effectively meeting demanding Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs) with minimal downtime.
- ✗
Cold site
Why it's wrong here
A cold site is a basic, unequipped facility with essential utilities but no hardware, software, or network connectivity pre-installed. Activating a cold site requires procuring and installing all necessary IT infrastructure, configuring systems, and restoring data, which can take days or even weeks. This extensive setup time makes a cold site entirely inadequate for meeting tight Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs), such as a 2-hour RTO, as it offers the lowest level of readiness among DR site types.
- ✓
Hot site with real-time replication
Why this is correct
A hot site is a fully operational, mirror image of the primary data center, equipped with all necessary hardware, software, and network infrastructure, and often maintained in an active-active or active-passive configuration. Real-time data replication ensures that the hot site always has the most current data, achieving a near-zero Recovery Point Objective (RPO). This immediate readiness allows for rapid failover and near-instantaneous resumption of business operations, making it ideal for meeting very aggressive Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs).
- ✗
Warm site
Why it's wrong here
A warm site is a partially equipped facility that includes some hardware and network infrastructure, but typically requires additional setup, configuration, and data restoration before becoming fully operational. While more prepared than a cold site, a warm site still necessitates several hours, or even a full day, to activate and bring critical systems online. This activation period often exceeds stringent Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs), making it unsuitable for scenarios demanding very rapid recovery.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CISSP 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 CISSP exam.