A company's primary datacenter is located directly on a major seismic fault line. The systems administrator must choose where to keep the weekly backup copies of 30 TB of engineering data so that the organization can continue operating if an earthquake destroys the facility. Which storage location BEST satisfies the data-security principle of physical location separation for this scenario?
An encrypted external drive stored in a safe two floors above the datacenter
A Tier III colocation facility 5 km away in the same metropolitan area
A cloud provider's region 450 km away on a different power grid and tectonic plate
A virtual tape library that shares the production SAN's disk shelves
Off-site backup locations should be far enough from the primary site to avoid being affected by the same regional disaster. Industry guidance for seismic and other large-scale natural hazards recommends placing copies hundreds of kilometers away, on different utility grids and geological zones. A cloud region 450 km distant meets that requirement, giving the organization a geographically independent copy. The other options keep data in the same building, on the same storage system, or within the same urban area-all of which are likely to suffer the same earthquake damage and therefore do not provide true physical-location protection.
Ask Bash
Bash is our AI bot, trained to help you pass your exam. AI Generated Content may display inaccurate information, always double-check anything important.
What is a Tier III colocation facility and why is it not ideal in this scenario?
Open an interactive chat with Bash
What is the significance of using a location on a different power grid and tectonic plate?
Open an interactive chat with Bash
Why are options like an encrypted external drive or virtual tape library inadequate?