Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity Flashcards

An organization operates in a flood-prone area and replicates data to a secondary data center only 2 miles away. What risk does this configuration fail to mitigate?

Answer: Regional/geographic disaster affecting both sites simultaneously

A secondary site located only 2 miles away may be affected by the same regional disaster (flood, earthquake, hurricane) as the primary, defeating geographic redundancy.

Which role is typically responsible for declaring a formal disaster and activating the DR plan?

Answer: A pre-designated crisis management team or executive authority

DR plans must designate specific authority (usually a crisis management team or C-level executive) with formal responsibility for declaring a disaster to avoid confusion and delays.

In the context of DR, what is a 'runbook'?

Answer: A step-by-step operational guide for executing specific recovery tasks

A runbook is a detailed, step-by-step procedural document that guides operators through specific recovery tasks, reducing reliance on memory during high-stress incidents.

What is the key distinction between a disaster recovery plan (DRP) and a business continuity plan (BCP)?

Answer: DRP focuses on IT systems recovery; BCP addresses sustaining overall business operations during and after disruption

The DRP is IT-focused and addresses restoring technology infrastructure, while the BCP is broader and covers maintaining all essential business functions and processes.

A company's BCP requires manual workarounds (e.g., paper forms) for 48 hours while systems are restored. What planning concept does this represent?

Answer: Graceful degradation / interim operating procedure

Interim operating procedures (also called graceful degradation) allow the business to continue functioning at reduced capacity using manual or alternative methods while primary systems are restored.

Which factor MOST directly determines whether a cold, warm, or hot standby site is appropriate for an organization?

Answer: The organization's RTO and budget constraints

The choice of standby site type is driven primarily by the RTO (how quickly systems must be restored) and the budget available to achieve that recovery speed.

During a DR audit, an auditor finds the BCP was last tested 3 years ago and has not been updated since a major infrastructure migration. What is the auditor's MOST significant finding?

Answer: The BCP is likely invalid because it does not reflect current systems and has not been validated through testing

A plan that hasn't been updated after a major infrastructure change and hasn't been tested in years may fail entirely during an actual disaster, making it the most critical finding.