Objective 3.4: Explain the importance of resilience and recovery in security architecture
Security+ SY0-701 practice question
A logistics company's business continuity plan requires critical operations to resume at an alternate site within 24 hours of losing the primary data center. Leadership will not pay for continuous data replication or for keeping duplicate systems running. However, servers and network connectivity must already be installed at the alternate site, so staff only need to restore the most recent backups. Which type of site BEST fits these requirements?
- Hot site
A hot site keeps systems running with near-real-time data, which requires the continuous replication and duplicate running systems that leadership refused to pay for.
- Cold site
A cold site has space and power but no installed servers or network, so it could not meet the requirement that equipment already be in place, or realistically the 24-hour target.
- An off-site backup vault with no recovery facility
Off-site backup storage protects the data, but without a facility and equipment there is nowhere to restore it and resume operations.
- Warm site(Correct)
Correct. A warm site has servers and connectivity ready, avoids the cost of live replication, and can be brought online by restoring recent backups within the 24-hour window.
Explanation
Recovery sites trade cost against recovery speed. A hot site is fully equipped with current data and can take over almost immediately, at the highest cost. A warm site has hardware and connectivity in place but needs data restored and systems brought up, typically within hours to a day. A cold site provides space, power, and cooling only, so equipment must be brought in, which takes days or weeks.