- A
Hot site
Hot sites are fully configured and can be operational within minutes to hours, meeting a 4-hour RTO.
- B
Cold site
Why wrong: Cold sites lack equipment and require days/weeks to become operational.
- C
Reciprocal agreement
Why wrong: Reciprocal agreements depend on another organization's availability and may not guarantee capacity.
- D
Warm site
Why wrong: Warm sites have some equipment but need hours to set up, which may exceed 4 hours.
Question 849 of 1,000
CISSP Security Operations Practice Question
This CISSP practice question tests your understanding of security operations. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company is selecting a disaster recovery site for critical applications that must be restored within 4 hours with minimal data loss. Which site type best meets 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
✓
Hot site
A hot site is fully configured with hardware, software, network connectivity, and real-time data replication, enabling recovery within minutes to hours and minimal data loss. This matches the requirement of restoring critical applications within 4 hours with minimal data loss, as hot sites maintain near-synchronous or synchronous replication (e.g., using synchronous replication over Fibre Channel or iSCSI with RPOs in seconds).
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Hot site
Why this is correct
Hot sites are fully configured and can be operational within minutes to hours, meeting a 4-hour RTO.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Cold site
Why it's wrong here
Cold sites lack equipment and require days/weeks to become operational.
- ✗
Reciprocal agreement
Why it's wrong here
Reciprocal agreements depend on another organization's availability and may not guarantee capacity.
- ✗
Warm site
Why it's wrong here
Warm sites have some equipment but need hours to set up, which may exceed 4 hours.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates confuse 'warm site' with 'hot site' because both have pre-installed hardware, but warm sites lack real-time data replication and automated failover, making them unsuitable for RTOs under 4 hours with minimal data loss.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Hot sites typically use synchronous replication for databases (e.g., Oracle Data Guard with SYNC transport or SQL Server Always On with synchronous-commit mode) to achieve RPOs of zero or near-zero seconds, and automated failover scripts or load balancers (e.g., F5 BIG-IP with iHealth monitors) to meet sub-4-hour RTOs. In contrast, warm sites often rely on asynchronous replication (e.g., Oracle Data Guard with ASYNC or SQL Server log shipping) with RPOs of minutes to hours, requiring manual or semi-automated recovery steps that extend RTOs. The key distinction is the trade-off between cost and recovery speed: hot sites require dedicated, always-on infrastructure and continuous data replication, while warm sites reduce cost by accepting longer recovery times and higher data loss.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A security analyst at a medium-sized enterprise encounters this scenario during an investigation or architecture review. The correct answer reflects best practice for the specific threat or control described. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Security exam questions test whether you can match controls to threats in context — not just recall definitions.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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Security Operations — study guide chapter
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this CISSP question test?
Security Operations — This question tests Security Operations — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Hot site — A hot site is fully configured with hardware, software, network connectivity, and real-time data replication, enabling recovery within minutes to hours and minimal data loss. This matches the requirement of restoring critical applications within 4 hours with minimal data loss, as hot sites maintain near-synchronous or synchronous replication (e.g., using synchronous replication over Fibre Channel or iSCSI with RPOs in seconds).
What should I do if I get this CISSP question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
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.
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