Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP)Cloud Security OperationsHard
A cloud service provider (CSP) offers an 'always-on' service level agreement (SLA) with 99.999% availability for a critical application. To meet this stringent requirement, the CSP's operations team implements a strategy that includes active-active deployments across multiple geographically dispersed regions, automated failover mechanisms, and continuous health checks. This strategy primarily aligns with which aspect of Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BCDR)?
- AMean Time To Repair (MTTR).
- BRecovery Point Objective (RPO).
- CFault Tolerance.
- DRecovery Time Objective (RTO).
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: C. Fault Tolerance.
Fault tolerance refers to a system's ability to continue operating without interruption despite the failure of one or more components. Active-active deployments, automated failover, and continuous health checks are all mechanisms designed to achieve high levels of fault tolerance, ensuring continuous availability even in the face of outages, directly supporting a 99.999% SLA.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. MTTR measures how long it takes to repair a failed system, but the strategy is focused on avoiding repair time by maintaining continuous operation.
- B. RPO defines the maximum acceptable data loss, which is related to data replication but not the primary focus of ensuring continuous operation during failures.
- D. RTO defines the maximum acceptable downtime, but the described strategy is about preventing downtime altogether rather than just recovering quickly.
Fault Tolerance
The ability of a system to continue performing its intended function without interruption despite the failure of one or more of its components.
- Achieved through redundancy, replication, and automatic failover.
- Aims for continuous availability and minimal downtime.
- Distinct from disaster recovery, which focuses on recovery after a major outage.
Memory trick: Fault tolerance means the system 'Tolerates' failure and keeps 'Flowing'.