We’ve all seen pictures of huge, never-ending server rooms, some extending throughout entire factory-sized buildings. When you think about the amount of effort it takes to secure your home computer, can you visualize the difficulty of securing hundreds, if not thousands (or even hundreds of thousands) of servers?
Keeping this massive amount of servers secure from the elements and from hacking is no easy feat. Below are the three of the most important elements to securing a massive server room.
1) Extensive and detailed software to monitor and control all conditions
Much like your home computer, servers require a lot of physical care in order to increase their capacity and efficiency. Small details such as the temperature and humidity could endanger every piece of information stored in this data center, so the first step is to always ensure that you have efficient monitoring of environmental factors. Services like the monitoring solutions by azeti will check that every aspect in the server room is at proper working level. Information that is gathered will allow the servers to run efficiently, warn of potential failures and ensure longevity of the technological equipment.
Using this kind of monitoring can be the difference between a successfully maintained data system and one that will be inevitably lost to the natural elements. To see the detailed extent of tracked conditions, data depictions and acquired data, take a look at a breakdown of azeti’s sonarmanager console.
2) Installation of vital software on each server
As all server data is connected to the internet, it’s an attractive goldmine for hackers looking to find valuable information or simply enjoy the challenge of taking down servers. Any stable server room will be using powerful hardware and software firewalls on any connected computer; this includes computers being used by employees, rather than solely those in the server room.
All servers will need to constantly install up-to-date security software, and set them to check for viruses regularly. The most secure software products will have a Common Criteria certification, meaning that they have been tested for vulnerability to hacker access.
Encryption software will also help protect all information passing through the computers. This will scramble data to make it difficult for any hackers to read and will create a more secure password protection.
3) Reducing the impact of the human and disaster factor
Regardless of the size of a server room, it could take only one staff member making a mistake for huge amounts of data or servers to be damaged. All employees must be trained on how to keep data secure and use their computers safely. They should only be granted access to data they need, rather than all servers’ information.
Employees must be knowledgeable (even experts) at treating, fixing and understanding the hardware and software behind servers. They must be educated in the particular aspects of the server room at hand, and should be trained to handle any kind of emergency that occurs.
Additionally, backup options must be put in place – not only in case of an employee mix-up – but also in cases of a disaster such as a flood. The best option is to have backups situated in a different country and even continent, so as to ensure that the likelihood of damage to both server spaces is reduced.