CompTIA Server+ (SK0-005)Security and Disaster RecoveryMedium
A system administrator is designing a disaster recovery (DR) plan for a critical web application. The business requires that the application be fully operational within four hours of a disaster, with a maximum data loss of one hour. Which type of DR site would be most appropriate?
- ACold site
- BHot site
- CWarm site
- DCloud-based backup
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Hot site
A hot site is a fully equipped, continuously updated replica of the primary data center. It is designed to be operational almost immediately, typically within minutes or a few hours, and can achieve very low RTO (Recovery Time Objective) and RPO (Recovery Point Objective), meeting the 4-hour RTO and 1-hour RPO requirements.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. A cold site has basic infrastructure but no equipment or data, leading to RTOs of days or weeks.
- C. A warm site has equipment but requires data restoration and configuration, leading to RTOs of hours to days.
- D. Cloud-based backup is a data recovery method, but a 'hot site' refers to the operational environment, which could be cloud-based but the term is more general for a fully active DR site.
Hot Site
A fully equipped, continuously updated, and operational disaster recovery site that can take over operations with minimal downtime and data loss.
- Lowest RTO (minutes to hours).
- Lowest RPO (minutes to zero).
- Most expensive to maintain.
Memory trick: Hot is ready, Warm needs warming, Cold is empty.