CompTIA Security+ (SY0-701)Security ArchitectureHard
A financial services firm requires that, in the event of a regional data center outage, transaction processing must resume within 15 minutes with almost no data loss. Which disaster recovery site strategy BEST meets this requirement?
- AA cold site with backup tapes shipped weekly
- BA reciprocal agreement with a partner company's data center
- CA hot site with real-time data replication and standby active systems
- DA warm site with backups restored every 24 hours
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: C. A hot site with real-time data replication and standby active systems
A very short RTO (15 minutes) with near-zero data loss requires a hot site that maintains real-time (or near-real-time) replicated data and fully running standby systems ready to take over almost immediately.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. A cold site has no active systems and would take days to become operational, far exceeding 15 minutes.
- B. A reciprocal agreement depends on another organization's availability and typically cannot guarantee this speed or data currency.
- D. A warm site with 24-hour-old backups would cause significant data loss and a longer recovery time.
Hot Site
A fully equipped, continuously running alternate processing facility with real-time or near-real-time data replication, enabling near-immediate failover during a disaster.
- Fastest RTO among site types but most expensive to maintain
- Warm sites have partial readiness and periodic data sync (higher RPO)
- Cold sites have infrastructure only, requiring days/weeks to activate
Memory trick: 'Hot means ready right now; cold means start from scratch.'