The importance of data centers to companies can be accurately understood when considering the risks that firms face these days when disasters do strike. There are two types of disasters that can have adverse circumstances for firms; these include both natural as well as man-made disasters.
Types of disasters
Man-made disasters are mainly technological ones. These include loss of data due to a variety of reasons such as a hacker attack or perhaps a damaged hard drive. Technological disasters are difficult to protect against that is why data centers have various stringent safety protocols that are followed to the letter.
On the other hand, natural disasters include hurricanes as well as earthquakes. One of the best ways to protect a data center facility against natural disasters is to set it up at a location that is considered as being low risk. For instance, Texas within the United States is considered to be a very safe location in regards to risk of natural disaster occurrence. Moreover, Texas also has an extremely reliable power grid system. Therefore, many companies tend to situate their data centers within this particular location.
Prevention of technological disasters
The data that companies store within their data centers is of a very sensitive nature. That is why there are strict security protocols established at data centers. On the other hand, data center security is also important for preventing technological disasters such as hacker attacks from occurring.
The best way to prevent a hacker from breaching the network within a data center is to install firewalls and use data encryption. A firewall is a piece of software that can detect as well as block unauthorized incoming connections. Hackers send inbound scans to detect flaws within a security system of a network. A firewall notifies the security administrator whenever a scan is attempted and also blocks the scan from gaining any knowledge regarding the overall infrastructure of the network.
On the other hand, data encryption is available in both 128-bit and 256-bit. When data is encrypted, it is of no use to anyone unless the person possesses the encryption that is required to decrypt the information. Although 128-bit is common throughout data centers all over the world, many facilities have started to employ 256-bit security since that is deemed to be much more secure.
Data center security also includes physical measures such as the installation of biometric devices. These include fingerprint and retina scanning devices. Since biometric devices work on the basis of identifying DNA scans of human beings, they are the most secure form of authorization available right now. However, they are pretty expensive.
Consequently, the front line defense of any company in regards to disaster prevention and recovery revolves around data centers. That is why there has been a significant increase in the number of data centers all over the world.
Kyle Richmond believes there are many factors to consider when evaluating colocation pricing. His articles educate readers about the features that set different data centers apart. Learning how those features dramatically impact cost allows readers to determine whether the provider is worth the price.
