CompTIA Server+ (SK0-005)Security and Disaster RecoveryMedium
A company is planning its disaster recovery strategy. They need a secondary site that can be brought online within a few hours to take over critical operations in case of a major outage at the primary data center. Data must be relatively current, with backups shipped regularly, but real-time synchronization is not strictly required due to cost constraints. Which type of disaster recovery site would be most appropriate?
- AHot site
- BActive-Active site
- CCold site
- DWarm site
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: D. Warm site
A warm site is equipped with hardware and connectivity, but data and applications may need to be loaded from recent backups. This fits the requirement for a recovery within a few hours with 'relatively current' data from 'regularly shipped backups', balancing recovery time objectives (RTO) and recovery point objectives (RPO) with cost constraints.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. A hot site has real-time data synchronization and can be operational almost immediately, which is more expensive than implied by 'cost constraints'.
- B. An active-active site is a hot site with both sites processing traffic, offering the highest RTO/RPO but also the highest cost.
- C. A cold site has basic infrastructure but no equipment or data, requiring days or weeks to become operational.
Warm Site
A disaster recovery site that has essential hardware and infrastructure in place, but requires loading of data and applications to become fully operational.
- Lower cost than a hot site, higher than a cold site.
- Recovery Time Objective (RTO) typically hours to days.
- Recovery Point Objective (RPO) depends on backup frequency.
Memory trick: DR Sites: Hot, Warm, Cold – like your coffee!