CompTIA Cloud Essentials+ (CLO-002)Cloud ConceptsHard

A cloud provider offers a service level agreement (SLA) for a data storage service with 99.999% (five nines) availability. Assuming a standard year, what is the maximum acceptable amount of downtime, to the nearest second, for this service annually?

  1. A3.15 seconds
  2. B5.26 minutes
  3. C315.36 minutes
  4. D31.54 seconds
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: D. 31.54 seconds

First, calculate total seconds in a year: 365 days * 24 hours/day * 60 minutes/hour * 60 seconds/minute = 31,536,000 seconds. Then, calculate the allowed downtime percentage: 100% - 99.999% = 0.001%. Finally, multiply total seconds by the downtime percentage: 31,536,000 * 0.00001 = 31.536 seconds. Rounded to the nearest second, this is 31.54 seconds.

Why the other options are wrong

  • A. Incorrect calculation, too low.
  • B. Calculated in minutes, not seconds, and potentially wrong percentage.
  • C. Calculated in minutes, not seconds, and wrong percentage.

SLA Availability (Five Nines)

A service level agreement guaranteeing 99.999% uptime, translating to very minimal downtime per year, often associated with mission-critical systems.

  • 99.999% uptime is known as 'five nines'.
  • Corresponds to approximately 5 minutes and 15 seconds of downtime per year.
  • Requires robust architecture, often multi-region active-active.

Memory trick: Five Nines: Only 31 seconds gone, like a quick blink.

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