Which type of off-site storage is an empty shell that can be used for operations in the event of a natural disaster or terrorist attack?

A cold site is a type of disaster recovery facility that provides the basic infrastructure required for operations, such as physical space, power, and environmental controls (HVAC), but does not contain any pre-installed IT equipment like servers, computers, or networking hardware. It is referred to as an "empty shell" because an organization must bring in and install all its own equipment following a disaster. While it is the least expensive off-site option, it results in the longest recovery time compared to warm or hot sites.

A. Icy site: This is not a recognized or standard industry term for a type of disaster recovery site.

B. Warm site: A warm site is partially equipped with some hardware and network infrastructure, but not the complete set of systems, making it more than an empty shell.

D. Hot site: A hot site is a fully equipped and operational duplicate of the primary site, ready for immediate failover; it is the opposite of an empty shell.

1. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). (2010). Special Publication 800-34 Rev. 1

Contingency Planning Guide for Federal Information Systems. Section 4.3.1

"Alternate Site

" Page 36.

This document defines a cold site as "a facility with adequate space and infrastructure (electric power

telecommunications connections

and environmental controls) to support the IT system. The site does not contain IT equipment..." This directly supports the "empty shell" concept.

2. Whitman

M. E.

& Mattord

H. J. (2019). Management of Information Security (6th ed.). Cengage Learning.

In the chapter on Contingency Planning

the text describes a cold site as "a rudimentary facility that provides only rudimentary services and facilities... a shell of a facility with only the basic utilities." This aligns with the question's description.

3. George Mason University. (n.d.). IT 463/563 Information Security - Lecture 10: Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Planning. Volgenau School of Engineering.

Course lecture materials define a cold site as having "power and cooling" but requiring the "installation of equipment

" contrasting it with warm sites (partially equipped) and hot sites (fully equipped).