- A
Cold site with weekly backup tapes shipped offsite
Why wrong: Cold sites have no equipment and require long setup; weekly backups would not meet 1-hour RPO.
- B
Cloud-based cold site with daily backups
Why wrong: Daily backups exceed 1-hour RPO; cold site does not meet RTO.
- C
Hot site with synchronous replication
Why wrong: A hot site is more costly than necessary; synchronous replication would meet RPO but is overkill for 1-hour RPO.
- D
Warm site with hourly log shipping to a standby database
Hourly log shipping achieves RPO of 1 hour; warm site provides hardware ready for activation within hours, meeting RTO.
Question 720 of 1,000
SSCP Incident Response and Recovery Practice Question
This SSCP practice question tests your understanding of incident response and recovery. 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.
An organization's disaster recovery plan specifies an RTO of 4 hours and an RPO of 1 hour for its critical database. Which of the following DR site configurations 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
✓
Warm site with hourly log shipping to a standby database
Option D is correct because a warm site with hourly log shipping to a standby database can achieve an RPO of 1 hour (by losing at most one hour of transactions) and an RTO of 4 hours (by applying the logs and bringing the standby online within that window). The standby database is kept nearly current with minimal lag, meeting both recovery objectives without the cost of full synchronous replication.
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.
- ✗
Cold site with weekly backup tapes shipped offsite
Why it's wrong here
Cold sites have no equipment and require long setup; weekly backups would not meet 1-hour RPO.
- ✗
Cloud-based cold site with daily backups
Why it's wrong here
Daily backups exceed 1-hour RPO; cold site does not meet RTO.
- ✗
Hot site with synchronous replication
Why it's wrong here
A hot site is more costly than necessary; synchronous replication would meet RPO but is overkill for 1-hour RPO.
- ✓
Warm site with hourly log shipping to a standby database
Why this is correct
Hourly log shipping achieves RPO of 1 hour; warm site provides hardware ready for activation within hours, meeting RTO.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often choose a hot site (Option C) because it provides the best protection, but the question asks for the configuration that BEST meets the specified RTO/RPO, not the most robust or expensive option, making the warm site the most cost-effective and appropriate choice.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Log shipping works by continuously or periodically copying transaction log backups from the primary database to a standby server, where they are restored (but not applied) in a warm standby state. To meet a 1-hour RPO, the log shipping interval must be set to 1 hour or less, ensuring that at most one hour of transactions is lost. The RTO of 4 hours includes the time to apply any remaining logs, bring the standby online, and redirect clients, which is feasible with a warm site that has pre-staged hardware and network connectivity.
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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Incident Response and Recovery — study guide chapter
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SSCP question test?
Incident Response and Recovery — This question tests Incident Response and Recovery — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Warm site with hourly log shipping to a standby database — Option D is correct because a warm site with hourly log shipping to a standby database can achieve an RPO of 1 hour (by losing at most one hour of transactions) and an RTO of 4 hours (by applying the logs and bringing the standby online within that window). The standby database is kept nearly current with minimal lag, meeting both recovery objectives without the cost of full synchronous replication.
What should I do if I get this SSCP 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 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.
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