Secure your Data Center’s Physical Facility with These Best Practices

Protecting your data center requires attention to detail at numerous levels. While your IT team is likely enhancing security against the type of cyber attacks that have been grabbing headlines, it’s important to examine your physical location for security gaps.

Take a look at the following best practices for building up security at your data center facility.

Conduct regular audits. Whether or not your company undergoes an external audit, your team should commit to conducting your own audits to determine any areas of the data center facility that could be vulnerable. As with any other equipment, regularly check to see if cameras, locks, and access control systems are functioning. It’s also important to examine areas that have undergone recent changes, including job changes among employees, to determine whether procedures and systems need to be updated.

Strengthen access control systems. Give your facility additional security by using biometrics to provide access to areas of your facility that require extra protection. For example, you can require two or more methods of entry into a certain area, such as an access card and fingerprint or retinal recognition.

Enhance video surveillance. Consider expanding your video cameras to include more areas of your facility, both indoors and outdoors. As with the access control systems, coupling these with 24-hour surveillance by security staff can significantly enhance the safety of your facility.

Enforce security measures. Since human error can lead to the vast majority of breaches, it’s important to regularly train your staff about security measures, including an outline of consequences if employees don’t comply with company regulations.

Establish redundant utilities. As with its data, data centers require redundancy with utilities, including electricity and water. These utility sources should be connected to different substations and main lines.

When outsourcing to a data center, it’s equally important to analyze vendors that are providing a high level of physical security on their grounds and throughout the facility.

Want to learn why EMP shielding, FedRAMP certification, and Rated-4 data centers are important?

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Rich Banta

Managing Member at Lifeline Data Centers

Rich is responsible for Compliance and Certifications, Data Center Operations, Information Technology, and Client Concierge Services. Rich has an extensive background in server and network management, large scale wide-area networks, storage, business continuity, and monitoring. Rich is a former CTO of a major health care system. Rich is hands-on every day in the data centers. He also holds many certifications, including: CISA – Certified Information Systems Auditor CRISC – Certified in Risk & Information Systems Management CDCE – Certified Data Center Expert CDCDP – Certified Data Center Design Professional