Matt, a security consultant, has been tasked with increasing server fault tolerance and has been given no
budget to accomplish his task. Which of the following can Matt implement to ensure servers will
withstand hardware failure?

A.
Hardware load balancing

B.
RAID

C.
A cold site

D.
A host standby

Explanation:
Fault tolerance is the ability of a system to sustain operations in the event of a component failure. Faulttolerant systems can continue operation even though a critical component, such as a disk drive, has
failed. This capability involves overengineering systems by adding redundant components and
subsystems. RAID can achieve fault tolerance using software which can be done using the existing
hardware and software.
Incorrect Answers:
A: Balancing the load between multiple servers instead of relying on only one reduces the response time,
maximizes throughput, and allows better allocation of resources. It does not mean withstanding
hardware failure, it just means high availability. It also adds costs and there is no budget.
C: A cold site is a facility that isn’t immediately ready to use. The organization using it must bring along its
equipment and network. A cold site may provide network capability, but this isn’t usually the case; the
site provides a place for operations to resume, but it doesn’t provide the infrastructure to support those
operations. Thus no servers fault tolerance as is required.
D: A Host standby assumes that you need to purchase additional servers to act as a standby.

Dulaney, Emmett and Chuck Eastton, CompTIA Security+ Study Guide, 6th Edition, Sybex, Indianapolis,
2014, pp. 33, 103, 444