SSCP Certification SSCP Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What distinguishes a 'cold site' from a 'hot site' in disaster recovery?
- A cold site has no climate control while a hot site has environmental controls
- A cold site is minimally equipped requiring significant setup, while a hot site is fully operational immediately (Correct answer)
- A cold site stores backup tapes offsite while a hot site processes live transactions onsite
- A cold site is used for winter disasters while a hot site handles summer incidents
Correct answer: A cold site is minimally equipped requiring significant setup, while a hot site is fully operational immediately
A cold site provides basic infrastructure (space, power, connectivity) but requires equipment installation and configuration before use, while a hot site is immediately operational.
Question 2: Which backup type copies only the data that changed since the last backup of ANY type?
- Full backup
- Differential backup
- Incremental backup (Correct answer)
- Mirror backup
Correct answer: Incremental backup
An incremental backup copies only data changed since the last backup (full or incremental), making each backup small and fast but requiring multiple sets for a complete restore.
Question 3: Which backup type copies all data changed since the last FULL backup regardless of intermediate backups?
- Full backup
- Differential backup (Correct answer)
- Incremental backup
- Synthetic full backup
Correct answer: Differential backup
A differential backup copies all data changed since the last full backup, meaning each differential grows larger over time but restore requires only two sets: the last full and the last differential.
Question 4: What is a tabletop exercise in BCP testing?
- A full-scale simulation that redirects live operations to the recovery site
- A discussion-based walkthrough where participants talk through disaster scenarios and their responses (Correct answer)
- A technical test that activates the disaster recovery site while production stays online
- A physical inspection of backup equipment and recovery site readiness
Correct answer: A discussion-based walkthrough where participants talk through disaster scenarios and their responses
A tabletop exercise is a low-cost, discussion-based session where key personnel walk through a disaster scenario verbally to identify gaps in the plan without disrupting operations.
Question 5: What does Mean Time To Recover (MTTR) measure?
- The maximum time allowed between system failures under SLA
- The average time required to restore a failed system to normal operation (Correct answer)
- The total downtime accumulated across all systems in a month
- The minimum time necessary to complete a full system backup
Correct answer: The average time required to restore a failed system to normal operation
MTTR is the average (mean) time required to repair or restore a system after failure, and is a key metric for evaluating recovery capability and SLA compliance.
Question 6: What is a 'parallel test' in disaster recovery?
- Running simultaneous backups across multiple storage systems
- Activating the recovery site and running operations there while production systems remain online (Correct answer)
- Testing two different recovery sites against each other simultaneously
- Running scheduled backups in parallel with normal production workloads
Correct answer: Activating the recovery site and running operations there while production systems remain online
A parallel test activates the recovery site and verifies it can handle operations while keeping primary production systems fully operational, providing realistic testing without service disruption.
Question 7: What is the primary purpose of a call tree (notification tree) in BCP?
- To document all IT system dependencies and recovery priorities
- To provide a structured chain for rapidly notifying all relevant personnel during a disaster (Correct answer)
- To track the financial cost of disaster recovery operations in real time
- To document step-by-step recovery procedures for each critical system
Correct answer: To provide a structured chain for rapidly notifying all relevant personnel during a disaster
A call tree defines a branching notification sequence so that each person contacts a defined set of others, ensuring all key personnel are reached quickly without a single point of contact becoming overwhelmed.
SSCP Certification SSCP Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery 2
What distinguishes a 'cold site' from a 'hot site' in disaster recovery?