Disaster Recovery: Geographic Dispersion for Natural Disasters

SY0-701 By islever Editorial Last updated

Short answer

A Geographic dispersion

Question

A company is planning a disaster recovery site and needs to ensure that a single natural disaster would not result in the complete loss of regulated backup data. Which of the following should the company consider?
  1. Geographic dispersion Correct Answer
  2. Platform diversity
  3. Hot site
  4. Load balancing

Key Takeaways

The question tests the understanding of physical risk mitigation; the trap is confusing logical redundancy (like load balancing) with physical separation from environmental threats.

Geographic dispersion is the critical strategy for protecting backup data against single natural disasters by storing copies in distant, independent locations. Community consensus confirms this as the only effective method among options to ensure regulatory compliance and data availability.

Common mistake: Candidates may incorrectly choose 'Hot site' because it implies immediate recovery, but a hot site does not inherently guarantee protection from a regional natural disaster unless it is also geographically dispersed from the primary site.

Expert Analysis

Why the Answer Is Correct

Geographic dispersion ensures that backup sites are located far enough apart that a single natural event (e.g., hurricane, earthquake, flood) cannot impact both the primary and secondary sites simultaneously. This physical separation is the fundamental requirement for mitigating regional catastrophic risks.

Why the Other Options Are Wrong

Platform diversity protects against software bugs or vendor-specific vulnerabilities, not physical disasters. A hot site provides rapid recovery capability but does not address the location risk itself if it is in the same disaster zone. Load balancing distributes traffic across servers to improve performance and availability but offers no protection against data loss from a regional disaster.

Community Comment Notes

Comment [1] correctly identifies that geographic dispersion minimizes the risk of a single disaster affecting both sites. Comment [2] highlights the regulatory aspect, noting that many standards require such separation for data integrity. The community overwhelmingly agrees on Option A as the direct solution to the stated problem.

Official Reference

https://csrc.nist.gov/publications/detail/sp/800-34/rev-1/final

This link opens the official vendor documentation in a new tab.

Exam Strategy

Always distinguish between logical controls (software/architecture) and physical controls (location/environment). When 'natural disaster' is mentioned, immediately look for keywords like 'geographic,' 'distance,' or 'separate regions' rather than technical redundancy terms.

Community Votes

A
100%

100% of anonymous learners picked answer A. Votes are pick records left by other test-takers — they are not the verified answer.

Discussion 4 contributions

Compiled from public community threads and reader submissions, lightly edited for clarity. Handles and vote tallies are shown as recorded, and comments reflect the views of individual contributors.

From public community threads 4

  1. geocis 👍 9
    Answer: A Geographic dispersion is the practice of having backup data stored in different locations that are far enough apart to minimize the risk of a single natural disaster affecting both sites. This ensures that the company can recover its regulated data in case of a disaster at the primary site. Platform diversity, hot site, and load balancing are not directly related to the protection of backup data from natural disasters.Reference:CompTIA Security+ Study Guide: Exam SY0-701, 9th Edition, page 449;Disaster Recovery Planning: Geographic Diversity
  2. dbrowndiver 👍 2
    Natural Disaster Protection: By storing backup data in geographically dispersed locations, the company ensures that a natural disaster in one region does not affect the backup data in another region. Regulatory Compliance: Many regulations require companies to have disaster recovery strategies that protect data integrity and availability, which geographic dispersion effectively addresses. Geographic dispersion directly addresses the risk of complete data loss due to a natural disaster by ensuring that data is stored in multiple locations, making it the most appropriate solution for this scenario
  3. Shaman73 👍 3
    • A. Geographic dispersion
  4. 3dk1 👍 1 Answered A
    this one easy

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