Which practice helps prevent and correct configuration drift during maintenance?

• A. Using Infrastructure as Code with version control and regular reconciliation
• B. Making ad hoc manual changes without records
• C. Avoiding system backups
• D. Relying on vendor default settings only

Answer: (A)

Preventing and correcting configuration drift relies on having a single source of truth for how the environment should look and a repeatable process to enforce it. Infrastructure as Code treats the desired configuration as code, stored in version control, so every change is tracked and reversible. Regular reconciliation compares the real system to the declared state and re-applies the code to bring the live environment back in line with the intended configuration. This combination of a tracked, declarative model and ongoing checks stops drift before it grows and makes it easy to revert to a known-good state.

Ad hoc manual changes without records introduce drift that’s hard to detect or undo. Skipping backups removes a reliable way to recover after drift or other issues. Relying on vendor default settings only captures a baseline that may not meet your needs and won’t provide ongoing enforcement or drift protection.