CIS CIS Technical Architecture & Infrastructure 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What does RTO (Recovery Time Objective) define in a CIS disaster recovery plan?
- The maximum acceptable data loss measured in time
- The maximum acceptable duration of system downtime before operations must be restored (Correct answer)
- The time required to complete a full data migration
- The interval between scheduled system backups
Correct answer: The maximum acceptable duration of system downtime before operations must be restored
RTO is the maximum time a business can tolerate a system being unavailable after a disruption, guiding the design of recovery capabilities.
Question 2: RPO (Recovery Point Objective) in a CIS implementation refers to:
- How fast the system can be restarted
- The maximum amount of data loss, measured in time, that is acceptable after a disruption (Correct answer)
- The point at which a project scope is officially approved
- The required uptime percentage for the system
Correct answer: The maximum amount of data loss, measured in time, that is acceptable after a disruption
RPO defines how much data loss is acceptable; for example, an RPO of 1 hour means backups must occur at least every hour so no more than 1 hour of data can be lost.
Question 3: In CIS infrastructure, 'high availability' is typically achieved through:
- Using the fastest available hardware
- Redundancy and failover mechanisms that eliminate single points of failure (Correct answer)
- Restricting system access to reduce load
- Running the system only during business hours
Correct answer: Redundancy and failover mechanisms that eliminate single points of failure
High availability is achieved by eliminating single points of failure through redundant components, load balancing, and automated failover so the system remains operational even when individual components fail.
Question 4: What is the purpose of environment promotion in a CIS implementation (Dev → QA → UAT → Production)?
- To reduce the number of environments required
- To progressively validate changes through controlled stages before they reach end users (Correct answer)
- To allow users to test features in production
- To migrate data from legacy to new systems
Correct answer: To progressively validate changes through controlled stages before they reach end users
Environment promotion ensures that code and configuration changes are tested and validated at each stage before reaching production, reducing the risk of defects affecting end users.
Question 5: Which practice ensures that CIS infrastructure configuration is version-controlled and can be consistently reproduced?
- Manual server configuration by system administrators
- Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using tools like Terraform or Ansible (Correct answer)
- Storing configuration files only on local workstations
- Using spreadsheets to document server settings
Correct answer: Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using tools like Terraform or Ansible
Infrastructure as Code treats infrastructure configuration as software, storing it in version control systems so environments can be consistently provisioned, audited, and reproduced.
Question 6: What is the MOST important consideration when sizing server infrastructure for a new CIS implementation?
- Using the same hardware as the previous implementation
- Anticipated user concurrency, data volume, and transaction throughput requirements (Correct answer)
- Choosing the lowest-cost option available
- Matching the vendor's minimum hardware specification exactly
Correct answer: Anticipated user concurrency, data volume, and transaction throughput requirements
Proper infrastructure sizing must account for peak concurrent users, expected data volumes, and transaction rates to ensure performance under real-world load conditions.
CIS CIS Technical Architecture & Infrastructure 2
What does RTO (Recovery Time Objective) define in a CIS disaster recovery plan?