hardMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
SSCP Recovery Point Objective (RPO) Practice Question
A large e-commerce company has a disaster recovery (DR) plan that requires Recovery Time Objective (RTO) of 4 hours and Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of 1 hour for its customer database. The database runs on a clustered SQL server with synchronous replication to a standby server in a different data center. During a recent test, the IT team found that failover took 3 hours, but due to a replication lag of 45 minutes, some transactions were lost. The team needs to meet both RTO and RPO. Which of the following changes should the team implement FIRST?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often focus on failover automation (RTO) when the actual failure is the data loss window (RPO) not being met. In this scenario, RTO is already within limits, so the priority is reducing the synchronization interval.
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
✓
Shorten the synchronization interval from 45 minutes to 15 minutes
The primary issue is that the database has a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of 1 hour, but the current replication lag of 45 minutes puts the organization at risk of losing up to 45 minutes of transactions. Shortening the synchronization interval to 15 minutes reduces the maximum potential data loss to 15 minutes, well within the RPO requirement. While automating failover (option D) could improve the Recovery Time Objective (RTO), the RTO is already being met (3 hours < 4 hours), so the immediate priority is addressing the RPO gap. Options A (asynchronous replication) would increase data loss, and B (increased bandwidth) may not directly reduce the lag if it is due to batch processing intervals rather than network constraints. Therefore, option C is the first change to implement.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Implement asynchronous replication to a third site
Why it's wrong here
Implementing asynchronous replication to a third site would likely increase the potential data loss, worsening the RPO issue.
- ✗
Increase the bandwidth between data centers
Why it's wrong here
Increasing bandwidth between data centers might help reduce network-related delays, but the 45-minute lag is likely due to a scheduled synchronization cycle, not bandwidth constraints.
- ✓
Shorten the synchronization interval from 45 minutes to 15 minutes
Why this is correct
Shortening the synchronization interval from 45 minutes to 15 minutes directly reduces the maximum data loss to 15 minutes, ensuring the RPO of 1 hour is consistently met.
- ✗
Automate the failover process with orchestration scripts to reduce manual steps
Why it's wrong here
Automating the failover process could reduce the RTO, but the current RTO of 3 hours already meets the 4-hour target. The critical problem is the RPO, which is not addressed by this change.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every SSCP question from scratch — 920 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This SSCP 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 SSCP exam.