Question 38
Domain 4: Security Operations, Monitoring, and Incident ResponseA company requires a Recovery Time Objective (RTO) of 4 hours and Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of 15 minutes for a cloud-hosted database. Which DR architecture is MOST cost-effective while meeting these requirements?
Correct answer: C
Explanation
Warm standby keeps a scaled-down environment ready to take over quickly, which fits an RTO of 4 hours without the full expense of a fully active site. Continuous replication supports an RPO of 15 minutes by keeping data loss minimal, making it the most cost-effective option that still meets both recovery targets.
Why each option is right or wrong
A. Cold standby in a different availability zone
B. Pilot light in a different region
C. Warm standby with continuous replication
A warm-standby design is the lowest-cost DR pattern that still maintains a preprovisioned secondary environment capable of being brought online within a few hours; in standard DR taxonomy, it sits between pilot light and active-active, so a 4-hour RTO is achievable without paying for full production duplication. Continuous replication is the key control for the 15-minute RPO, because the recovery point is bounded by the replication lag rather than by periodic backups, keeping potential data loss within the stated 15-minute limit.
D. Multi-site active-active configuration