SY0-701 Question 234
Single answerSite considerations: Hot , Cold , WarmA regional healthcare provider is updating its disaster recovery plan after a ransomware incident caused a full shutdown of its primary data center. Executives require that critical patient scheduling and electronic records systems be restored within 4 hours of a future outage, but they also want to avoid the ongoing cost of maintaining a fully mirrored environment. Which site type BEST meets these requirements?
- A
Hot site
- B
Cold site
- C
Warm site
- D
Mobile recovery site
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: C
Explanation
This question tests the practical differences among hot, warm, and cold sites in business continuity and disaster recovery planning. A hot site provides the fastest recovery but at the highest cost because systems and data are kept ready for immediate or near-immediate failover. A cold site is the least expensive but requires the most work after a disaster, resulting in the longest recovery time. A warm site is commonly selected when an organization needs faster recovery than a cold site can provide, but cannot justify the expense of a hot site. In real-world planning, the choice should align with business impact analysis results, especially recovery time objective (RTO) and recovery point objective (RPO). This aligns with standard disaster recovery and business continuity best practices commonly reflected in Security+ objectives and guidance from organizations such as NIST, including contingency planning concepts in SP 800-34.
- A. Incorrect.
A hot site is incorrect because it is a fully operational alternate location with systems, networking, and current or near-current data ready to assume production quickly. It provides the shortest recovery time, but it is also the most expensive option to maintain. In this scenario, leadership specifically wants to avoid the cost of a fully mirrored environment, so a hot site exceeds the business requirement.
- B. Incorrect.
A cold site is incorrect because it usually provides only basic facilities such as space, power, and connectivity. Hardware, system builds, and data restoration must typically be performed after the disaster, leading to much longer recovery times. That makes it a poor fit for a 4-hour recovery objective for critical healthcare systems.
- C. Correct.
A warm site is correct because it offers a middle ground between cost and recovery speed. A warm site typically includes preconfigured infrastructure and connectivity, and may have systems available but not fully synchronized in real time. This allows recovery faster than a cold site while avoiding the high ongoing expense of a hot site. For an organization that needs relatively fast restoration without paying for a fully mirrored environment, a warm site is the best fit.
- D. Incorrect.
A mobile recovery site is incorrect because it is a transportable recovery facility used in some specialized scenarios, but it is not the standard best answer for balancing a moderate recovery-time requirement against cost in a typical data center disaster recovery planning question. It may also require additional setup and integration time, making it less predictable for restoring critical clinical systems within a tight window.