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CISSP Is designing a disaster recovery site Practice Question
An organization is designing a disaster recovery site. The primary data center is located in a region prone to earthquakes. The recovery site must be far enough away to avoid the same seismic zone but close enough to minimize latency. Which site selection criteria is most important?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is that candidates often prioritize network connectivity (Option C) or power diversity (Option A) because they are common in high-availability design, but the question explicitly states the primary risk is a regional earthquake, making geographic diversity the non-negotiable requirement.
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
✓
Geographical diversity to avoid the same seismic zone
Geographical diversity (Option B) is the most important criterion because the primary data center is in an earthquake-prone region, and the recovery site must be located outside the same seismic zone to ensure that a single seismic event does not destroy both sites. This directly addresses the core requirement of disaster recovery: maintaining availability during a regional catastrophe. While latency and connectivity are important, they are secondary to ensuring the recovery site survives the same disaster.
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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Access to diverse power grids
Why it's wrong here
While access to diverse power grids is a valuable resilience feature for any critical facility, it is not the primary driver for disaster recovery site selection. A regional disaster, such as a widespread natural event or large-scale infrastructure failure, could still impact multiple power grids within the same general area. True disaster recovery necessitates geographical separation sufficient to avoid a single point of failure encompassing utilities, making diverse grids a secondary consideration to physical distance.
- ✓
Geographical diversity to avoid the same seismic zone
Why this is correct
Geographical diversity, specifically avoiding the same seismic zone, is a paramount consideration for a disaster recovery site. This ensures that a single catastrophic event, such as a major earthquake, cannot simultaneously disable both the primary and recovery data centers. Such separation is fundamental to maintaining business continuity and data availability, as it prevents the loss of both operational and recovery capabilities from a single, widespread natural disaster.
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High-speed network connectivity between sites
Why it's wrong here
High-speed network connectivity between sites is critically important for efficient data replication, synchronization, and rapid failover in a disaster recovery strategy. However, the technical capability to establish high-speed links does not dictate the geographical placement of a DR site. Modern telecommunications infrastructure allows for robust, high-bandwidth connections to be established over significant distances, meaning connectivity is an implementation detail that can be achieved, rather than a primary constraint on geographical separation for disaster avoidance.
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Availability of skilled personnel near the recovery site
Why it's wrong here
The availability of skilled personnel near a potential recovery site is a practical operational benefit, but it is not a primary determinant for the site's geographical selection in a disaster recovery strategy. In a true disaster scenario, personnel can be mobilized, relocated, or flown in from other regions to staff the recovery site. The overriding concern for a DR site's location is its physical isolation from the primary site's disaster zone, ensuring the infrastructure itself remains operational, rather than the immediate proximity of specific staff.
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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.