6 Data Center Disasters You'll Never See Coming

by Stephanie Faris on Monday, January 29, 2018 11:30

Your business relies on its data center to keep operations running smoothly. If something happens that suddenly made your files and applications inaccessible, how would it affect operations? Would your end users still be able to provide customers the great service they expect?

Disaster preparedness has always been a crucial part of security administration. As an IT professional, it is your duty to ensure that you have a plan in place that protects your critical data against every possible threat. Here are six of the disasters your data center could encounter. While this is by no means an exhaustive listing, it does provide a great starting place as you prepare your disaster preparedness plan.

Malfunctioning Equipment

Equipment failure is an unavoidable hazard, whether it's at a user's desk or in a full-scale data center. A cascading failure can be devastating, with one outage affecting other pieces of equipment, which then also fail. To protect against this type of disaster, adhere to the fault tolerance procedures outlined in Tier Standard: Topology. Monitoring systems in real time can also help minimize damage.

Human Error

Unfortunately, the biggest risk to a data center can be the people who run it. If your data center isn't locked down to only trained personnel, you may find that crucial information is erased, or a piece of equipment suffers physical damage. Make sure you limit access, especially to highly sensitive areas, and have an upper-level technician escort any vendors who spend time in those areas.

Power Failure

Power failures are a possibility in any building. In a data center, though, one power failure can take your company website, applications, and other critical data offline for the duration. Battery backups and generators are a must, but even they can fail if not properly maintained. Make sure you have all of the proper backup equipment in place and test it regularly to ensure its integrity.

Fire

Most of today's data centers have some sort of fire suppression system built in to keep equipment protected. But you should also have it regularly checked to ensure it's fully functional, since many data centers will operate for years with the same suppression system in place.

Flood

Water exposure can cause serious damage to electronics. Make sure your data is being backed up on a daily basis, with the backups stored offsite. If possible, move your data center to higher ground but if this isn't feasible, make sure your equipment is atop a raised floor and check that your insurance covers flooding due to natural disasters as well as building issues.

Security Breach

IT teams have a responsibility to keep data safe from a breach, whether from software attacks or physical theft. In addition to restricting access and having software-based security, professionals should also closely monitor the equipment that goes offsite. If you're recycling or donating old equipment, take extra security precautions to ensure sensitive data can't be intercepted.

Make National Computer Warehouse Services your go-to support vendor for all your data center needs. We can help with your relocation, data destruction, and hard drive shredding services. Contact us today to learn how we can help you.