Which statement correctly defines RPO and RTO?

• A. RPO is the speed of data replication; RTO is the time to complete backups.
• B. RPO is the maximum tolerable data loss; RTO is the maximum acceptable downtime.
• C. RPO is the restoration point objective; RTO is the recovery time objective but in reverse.
• D. RPO is the rate of data change; RTO is the time to verify integrity.

Answer: (B)

RPO and RTO measure how a organization can withstand disruptions in terms of data and time. RPO is the maximum tolerable data loss, defined as the point in time to which data must be recoverable. It answers how far back in time the business can afford to lose data, and it drives how frequently data must be backed up or replicated. RTO is the maximum acceptable downtime, the time by which systems must be back online after an outage. It guides how fast recovery processes and failover mechanisms need to work. So the statement that RPO is the maximum tolerable data loss and RTO is the maximum acceptable downtime is the correct, standard definition. The other options mix up what each term represents: speeds or backups describe performance rather than tolerance; the term for RPO is “recovery point objective,” not a reversed concept; and RTO is not about data change rate or verification time.