The security of a Data Center starts with its design
Today a company's most important asset is no longer what it produces, be it a service or a tangible good, but data. Managing it effectively makes all the difference, as British mathematician Clive Humby pointed out back in 2006, “Data is the new oil.” But where does the data reside? It depends, of course, on the type of business and how sensitive this information is, but basically it is in a data center, which can be managed directly by the owner of the data itself or by a third party. Regardless of whether they are on-premise or in the cloud, protecting data is critical, so when designing a data center, one must take into account a number of technical factors that make one data center truly secure as opposed to another that-in case of unforeseen events-does not offer the necessary guarantees. The fire at OVHCloud's Strasbourg facility demonstrates how a simple fire, a rare but certainly not impossible situation, can expose the vulnerabilities of multiple systems.
The physical security of a data center therefore requires a different design approach from that of any other building type. In an office, warehouse, or shopping center, the priority is to safeguard people's safety by providing escape routes in case of accidents. Everything else is expendable. Even in the case of data centers, the physical safety of those who work there is the first priority, but securing the servers and the information they contain is equally important: this is where the lifeblood of businesses is stored, and it is crucial to minimize the impact of any external event, because blocking access to essential services for even a few seconds undermines business continuity. Think of the example of a hospital: not being able to access patient information for even a few hours can have a disastrous impact. It is no coincidence that mission critical systems are usually replicated in multiple geographic locations so that they can cope with even the most extreme and unlikely situations.
In-Site's approach to Data Center design
In-Site is an integrated engineering company specializing in the design and implementation of complex infrastructures, particularly Data Center and Security Operation Center (SOC), which represent the company's core business. In-Site's philosophy is to combine specific technical engineering skills with those of architecture, taking care of all aspects, plant engineering, infrastructure, but also the livability of spaces designed for a perfect symbiosis between man and machine.
“The Data Center can no longer be considered just as a simple container of machines. In fact, five years from now, I believe it will be seen more and more as a technological space capable of communicating with humans, and of conveying the company's values to the outside world,” explains Pietro Matteo Foglio, CEO and founder of In-Site. “The real challenge for the future consists, in this sense, in harmonizing containers and contents, through an articulated process that requires an assiduous confrontation between designers, companies and operators in the sector. There will be two requirements: on the one hand, a very high level of adaptability to the sudden changes in the market through the creation of flexible and modular structures, and on the other hand, the maximum guarantee of business continuity.”