Recovery Planning & Testing Flashcards

Which test type involves moving actual production workloads to the recovery site for a defined period?

Answer: Full interruption test

A full interruption test cuts over actual production operations to the recovery site, making it the most realistic but highest-risk test type.

In a parallel test, what distinguishes it from a full interruption test?

Answer: Recovery systems run simultaneously while production stays online

A parallel test activates recovery systems alongside live production, validating recovery capability without risking the primary environment.

What is the primary purpose of a post-exercise report (PER) after a BC test?

Answer: To document lessons learned and improvement actions

The PER captures observations, gaps identified, and improvement actions to strengthen the BC plan based on test outcomes.

Which BCI Good Practice Guidelines (GPG) practice area specifically covers exercising and testing?

Answer: PP4 – Exercising and Testing

PP4 in the BCI GPG addresses the design, execution, and evaluation of BC exercises and tests.

A recovery plan references a 'gold copy' of data. What does this term signify?

Answer: A verified, clean baseline backup used as the authoritative restore point

A gold copy is a verified, known-good backup that serves as the authoritative point from which systems are restored after an incident.

Which metric defines the maximum age of data that an organization can afford to lose in a disruption?

Answer: RPO

Recovery Point Objective (RPO) specifies the maximum tolerable data loss measured in time, directly driving backup frequency decisions.

What is 'scenario-based testing' in the context of business continuity?

Answer: Designing exercises around realistic, plausible disruption events to validate plan effectiveness

Scenario-based testing uses realistic disruption storylines to evaluate whether plans, people, and resources respond effectively.