SSCP Systems Security Certified PractitionerIncident Response and RecoveryEasy
A large e-commerce company experiences a major distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack that overwhelms its primary data center. The company's disaster recovery plan (DRP) dictates a switch to an alternate site. Which type of alternate site provides the most immediate cutover with minimal disruption for critical services?
- AMobile site
- BWarm site
- CHot site
- DCold site
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: C. Hot site
A hot site is a fully equipped, mirrored data center that can take over operations almost immediately with minimal data loss and downtime, making it ideal for critical services requiring high availability.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. A mobile site is a portable facility, useful for temporary needs but not for immediate, large-scale failover of a data center.
- B. A warm site has some equipment but needs more setup and data loading than a hot site.
- D. A cold site is an empty facility requiring significant setup time.
Hot Site
A fully equipped, operational alternative facility that can be activated immediately or with very short notice to continue business operations during a disaster.
- Highest cost among alternate sites.
- Offers the lowest Recovery Time Objective (RTO).
- Often involves real-time data replication.
Memory trick: Hot is Ready, Warm is Waiting, Cold is Empty.