PracticeVideosBlogFlashcardsEspañol
All Practice Exams

100+ Free CDRE Practice Questions

Pass your Mile2 Certified Disaster Recovery Engineer (CDRE) exam on the first try — instant access, no signup required.

✓ No registration✓ No credit card✓ No hidden fees✓ Start practicing immediately
Not published Pass Rate
100+ Questions
100% Free
1 / 100
Question 1
Score: 0/0

During a BIA, which quantitative metric represents the total financial loss that would occur if a specific business process failed for its entire maximum tolerable downtime period?

A
B
C
D
to track
Same family resources

Explore More Mile2 Cybersecurity Certifications

Continue into nearby exams from the same family. Each card keeps practice questions, study guides, flashcards, videos, and articles in one place.

Mile2 Certified AI Cybersecurity Officer (CAICSO)

Practice Questions

Mile2 Certified Cloud Security Officer (CCSO)

Practice Questions

Mile2 Certified Digital Forensics Examiner (CDFE)

Practice Questions

Mile2 Certified Information Systems Risk Manager (CISRM)

Practice Questions

Mile2 Certified Information Systems Security Officer (CISSO)

Practice Questions

Mile2 Certified Network Forensics Examiner (CNFE)

Practice Questions
2026 Statistics

Key Facts: CDRE Exam

100 MCQ

Exam Length

Mile2

70%

Passing Score

Mile2

10 modules

Course Modules

Mile2

32 CPE

Credits Awarded

Mile2

2 attempts

Included in Combo

Mile2

4 days

Instructor-Led Duration

Mile2

The Mile2 CDRE is a 100-question online exam requiring 70% to pass. It covers disaster recovery and business continuity engineering across 10 modules including BIA, RTO/RPO strategy, DR site types, backup technologies, cloud DR, and plan testing. Delivered through Mile2's MACS platform. Two exam attempts are typically included in the combo package.

Sample CDRE Practice Questions

Try these sample questions to test your CDRE exam readiness. Each question includes a detailed explanation. Start the interactive quiz above for the full 100+ question experience with AI tutoring.

1Which term describes the maximum tolerable period that a critical business function can be disrupted before the disruption threatens organizational survival?
A.Maximum Tolerable Downtime (MTD)
B.Recovery Time Objective (RTO)
C.Recovery Point Objective (RPO)
D.Work Recovery Time (WRT)
Explanation: Maximum Tolerable Downtime (MTD), also called Maximum Tolerable Period of Disruption (MTPD), is the absolute upper limit of downtime an organization can sustain before its survival is threatened. RTO must always be less than MTD to leave buffer time for actual recovery work.
2An organization's RPO is set at 4 hours. Which backup strategy most directly satisfies this requirement?
A.Weekly full backup only
B.Daily full backup with no incremental
C.Continuous data replication to an offsite facility
D.Monthly tape backups stored in a vault
Explanation: An RPO of 4 hours means no more than 4 hours of data loss is acceptable. Continuous replication (or near-continuous with sub-4-hour intervals) is the only option that guarantees data loss stays within that window. The other options all have backup intervals far exceeding 4 hours.
3During a Business Impact Analysis, which output directly determines the priority order for recovering IT systems?
A.Criticality rankings of business functions
B.Risk register entries
C.Vendor SLA agreements
D.Change management logs
Explanation: The BIA produces criticality rankings by identifying which business processes are most vital to organizational mission, revenue, and regulatory obligations. These rankings directly determine which IT systems must be recovered first and in what order, driving the IT recovery strategy.
4A warm site differs from a hot site primarily in that a warm site:
A.Requires hours to days of configuration before operations resume
B.Has no hardware installed at all
C.Is operational and running production workloads continuously
D.Stores only paper-based manual procedures
Explanation: A warm site has hardware and connectivity pre-installed but requires configuration, data restoration, and testing before it becomes operational — typically taking hours to a few days. A hot site is fully configured and can assume operations within minutes to hours with minimal setup.
5Which type of DR test involves actually relocating operations to the alternate site and running production workloads there, but maintaining the primary site simultaneously?
A.Checklist review
B.Tabletop exercise
C.Parallel test
D.Full interruption test
Explanation: A parallel test activates the alternate site and runs production workloads there while the primary site also remains operational. This validates the alternate site without the risk of full cutover. A full interruption test actually shuts down the primary site — carrying higher risk but providing the most realistic validation.
6What is the primary purpose of the Business Impact Analysis (BIA) within the BC/DR planning process?
A.To quantify the operational and financial impact of disruptions and establish RTO/RPO
B.To identify and rank threats by likelihood
C.To draft the incident response playbook
D.To negotiate service levels with cloud vendors
Explanation: The BIA quantifies how much harm a disruption causes to each business function — financially, operationally, and reputationally — and uses those impacts to set RTO and RPO for each function. This is the foundational step that drives all subsequent DR strategy and resource investment decisions.
7Which backup method backs up only the files that have changed since the last full backup, and when restoring, requires only the last full backup plus the single most recent backup set?
A.Differential backup
B.Incremental backup
C.Continuous data protection
D.Mirror backup
Explanation: A differential backup captures all changes made since the last full backup. Because it accumulates all changes in a single set, restoration requires only the last full backup plus the latest differential set — making restore faster than incremental but at the cost of larger differential backup files over time.
8In a disaster recovery context, which framework provides the most widely referenced guidance for IT contingency planning, including a seven-step process from BIA through testing and maintenance?
A.NIST SP 800-34
B.ISO 22301
C.COBIT 2019
D.ITIL 4
Explanation: NIST Special Publication 800-34 (Contingency Planning Guide for Federal Information Systems) provides a seven-step IT contingency planning process: develop the contingency planning policy, conduct BIA, identify preventive controls, create contingency strategies, develop the plan, test and train, and maintain the plan. It is the primary US federal and widely adopted industry standard for IT DR planning.
9Which cloud-based DR strategy replicates data to a cloud provider continuously but only provisions compute resources upon a declared disaster, minimizing cost while meeting aggressive RTOs?
A.Pilot light
B.Cloud backup and restore
C.Warm standby
D.Multi-site active-active
Explanation: The pilot light strategy keeps a minimal core of critical services (the 'pilot light') running in the cloud with continuous data replication, but the bulk of compute infrastructure is not running. On disaster declaration, the compute is quickly provisioned around the already-replicated data. It is more cost-effective than warm standby while achieving faster recovery than pure backup-and-restore.
10A DR plan calls for SAN replication between the primary data center and the DR site. Which SAN replication mode guarantees zero data loss (RPO=0) but can introduce write latency?
A.Synchronous replication
B.Asynchronous replication
C.Snapshot-based replication
D.Tape vaulting
Explanation: Synchronous replication requires a write acknowledgment from both the primary and secondary storage before confirming the write to the application. This guarantees zero data loss (RPO=0) because both sites are always identical, but it introduces write latency proportional to the round-trip time between sites — making it less suitable for long distances.

About the CDRE Exam

The Mile2 CDRE (Certified Disaster Recovery Engineer) certifies professionals in designing, implementing, and testing business continuity and disaster recovery programs. It covers 10 modules spanning BIA, risk analysis, IT recovery strategies (backup, replication, alternate sites), IT resiliency, cloud-based DR, DR plan testing, and pandemic planning. Curriculum is NSA-CNSS accredited and listed on the Homeland Security NICCS framework.

Questions

100 scored questions

Time Limit

2 hours

Passing Score

70% (70/100)

Exam Fee

Varies by package (Mile2 Cybersecurity Institute)

CDRE Exam Content Outline

~12%

BCP/DR Concepts and Fundamentals

MTD, RTO, RPO, WRT calculations, BCP vs. IT DRP hierarchy, disaster declaration criteria, and BC/DR governance

~15%

Business Impact Analysis (BIA)

BIA methodology, criticality ranking, ALE/SLE/ARO calculations, dependency mapping, and stakeholder interviews

~10%

Risk Analysis

Threat identification, probability and consequence assessment, quantitative vs. qualitative analysis, and risk controls

~15%

DR Strategy and Design

Alternate site types (hot/warm/cold), site selection criteria, return-to-primary planning, and vendor evaluation

~15%

IT Recovery Strategies

Backup types (full/incremental/differential/copy/CDP), SAN replication (synchronous/asynchronous), RAID levels, HSM, tape vaulting, and voice continuity

~12%

IT Resiliency

High availability clustering, active-active architectures, load balancing, live VM migration, multipathing, ISP redundancy, and power continuity (UPS/generator)

~6%

Implementation Phase

Budget approval, system installation and configuration, and DR awareness and training deployment

~10%

DR Plan Testing and Exercise

Testing types (checklist, tabletop, simulation, parallel, full interruption), test scripts, post-exercise after-action reports, and RTO/RPO gap closure

~5%

Plan Maintenance and Update Cycle

Version control, controlled distribution, change management integration, and periodic BIA and plan refresh

How to Pass the CDRE Exam

What You Need to Know

  • Passing score: 70% (70/100)
  • Exam length: 100 questions
  • Time limit: 2 hours
  • Exam fee: Varies by package

Keys to Passing

  • Complete 500+ practice questions
  • Score 80%+ consistently before scheduling
  • Focus on highest-weighted sections
  • Use our AI tutor for tough concepts

CDRE Study Tips from Top Performers

1Master the recovery time equation: MTD = RTO + WRT — RTO must always be set below MTD to leave time for data and application validation
2Know all DR testing types in order from least to most invasive: checklist → tabletop → simulation → parallel → full interruption
3For backup types: full clears archive bit; incremental backs up since last backup (any type) + clears bit; differential backs up since last full + leaves bit; copy backs up all + leaves bit unchanged
4For cloud DR: pilot light = minimal core running (cheapest that meets fast RTO); warm standby = scaled-down full stack (costlier); active-active = full live in 2+ regions (most expensive)
5Synchronous SAN replication = RPO of 0 but adds write latency; asynchronous = lower latency but non-zero RPO — distance and bandwidth drive the choice
6RAID-10 = striping + full mirroring (best performance + redundancy, 50% usable capacity); RAID-5 = distributed parity, tolerates 1 disk failure; RAID-6 = dual parity, tolerates 2 disk failures

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Mile2 CDRE exam format?

The Mile2 CDRE exam consists of 100 multiple-choice questions with a 2-hour time limit. Candidates must score 70% (70 correct answers) to pass. The exam is delivered online through Mile2's Assessment and Certification System (MACS). Exam combo packages typically include two exam attempts.

What topics does the Mile2 CDRE cover?

The CDRE covers 10 modules: Disaster Recovery Fundamentals, Business Impact Analysis (BIA), Risk Analysis, Strategy and Design, IT Recovery Strategies (backup types, SAN replication, RAID), IT Resiliency (HA clustering, active-active, cloud DR), Implementation, Testing and Exercises, Maintenance and Updates, and Pandemic Planning.

What is the difference between RTO and RPO?

RTO (Recovery Time Objective) is the maximum time allowed to restore a system after a disruption. RPO (Recovery Point Objective) is the maximum acceptable data loss expressed as a point in time — for example, an RPO of 4 hours means no more than 4 hours of data can be lost. Both are established by the BIA and drive technology investment decisions such as site type and replication mode.

How do DR testing types differ?

DR testing progresses from least to most invasive: (1) Checklist review — paper validation only; (2) Tabletop exercise — verbal walkthrough, no systems activated; (3) Simulation — scripts or procedures activated in an isolated environment; (4) Parallel test — alternate site activated alongside the primary site; (5) Full interruption test — primary site shut down, alternate site becomes production. Each level provides increasing validation confidence with increasing operational risk.

What are the cloud DR strategy options and how do they differ?

Four cloud DR strategies exist on a cost-vs-recovery-speed spectrum: (1) Backup and restore — lowest cost, longest RTO (hours); (2) Pilot light — minimal core services running continuously, fast provisioning on disaster; (3) Warm standby — scaled-down live environment, faster recovery than pilot light; (4) Multi-site active-active — full production in two regions simultaneously, lowest RTO/RPO but highest cost.

Who should pursue the Mile2 CDRE?

The CDRE targets IS security officers, IT managers, risk managers, disaster recovery and business continuity engineers, system owners, control assessors, and government employees. It requires approximately 12 months of Information Systems experience and 12 months of IS management experience. The 4-day course awards 32 CPE credits.