CISSP Security and Risk Management Practice Question
A company is implementing a hot site as a disaster recovery option. Which of the following best describes a hot site?
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
✓
A facility that is fully configured and ready to operate within hours
A hot site is a fully equipped backup facility that is ready to take over operations immediately, including hardware, software, and data synchronization.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
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A facility with basic infrastructure but no equipment
Why it's wrong here
A cold site is an empty shell facility, providing only basic infrastructure like power, cooling, and network connectivity, but lacking any IT equipment or pre-installed software. Activating a cold site requires significant time and effort to procure, install, and configure all necessary hardware and software, making it unsuitable for rapid disaster recovery and thus not a hot site.
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A reciprocal agreement with another company to share space
Why it's wrong here
A reciprocal agreement involves two organizations agreeing to provide backup facilities to each other in the event of a disaster. While cost-effective, this approach introduces significant risks, as it relies on the other company having spare capacity and not experiencing its own disaster simultaneously, potentially leading to resource contention and delayed recovery. This is fundamentally different from a dedicated, pre-configured hot site.
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A facility with some equipment but not fully operational
Why it's wrong here
A warm site is a partially equipped facility that includes some hardware, such as servers and networking gear, but may not have all applications installed or the most current data. It requires additional setup, data restoration, and configuration before it can become fully operational, resulting in a recovery time objective (RTO) that is longer than a hot site but shorter than a cold site.
- ✓
A facility that is fully configured and ready to operate within hours
Why this is correct
A hot site is a fully operational and configured disaster recovery facility, mirroring the primary site with all necessary hardware, software, and up-to-date data. It is designed for immediate activation, allowing critical business operations to resume within hours or even minutes, minimizing downtime and data loss. This level of readiness is crucial for systems with very low recovery time objectives (RTOs).
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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.