Climate change is already having a lot of effect on our environment. Thus, natural disasters are increasing with time. This is the biggest threat to data center providers. It is already very difficult to manage a data center. You need to manage the cooling capacity and power of your data center. Data center providers also need to follow strict security regulations. They also have to deal with natural disasters like floods, earthquakes, and hurricanes. Most companies can’t ignore the threat of a natural disaster. If your data is not available during a crisis, then it can affect your company’s reputation.

According to a report by FEMA, more than 40% of small businesses never reopen after facing a disaster. They lose important data during these disasters. Thus, it is impossible to recover from these disasters. Most companies can’t afford downtime. If your services are offline, then your customers will move to another platform. Thus, it is important to consider all the risks.

Effect on Covid-19 Pandemic on Risk management

COVID-19 Pandemic is affecting a lot of companies. Most employees are now working from home. Organizations were forced to embrace remote work. However, most organizations didn’t have the IT infrastructure and security controls for handling the remote work. Most stores were forced to close down. Stores that have invested in the online market are still thriving during this pandemic.

This pandemic also affected the healthcare and manufacturing industry. There was an increase in demand. However, the supply chain was also disrupted due to the pandemic. There are many companies that were relying on overseas shipments only. They had a lot of demand from their customers. However, their centers were completely empty. Healthcare providers were trying their best to cope up with the patients. This pandemic also strained their IT infrastructure. More people are now using telemedicine services. Many medical researchers are using cloud platforms for developing a vaccine. Thus, they need reliable digital infrastructure.

This pandemic is also affecting the data center industry. More people are using the internet for completing their work. Thus, increased demand is straining the network infrastructure. The worldwide service outages have increased by 40%. If your organization is not working with a reliable data center, then you might face downtime during this pandemic.

Every data center has a plan for dealing with disasters. It is important to ensure that your servers are running during any disaster. However, sometimes your data center can’t provide you services during a natural disaster. Even a good SLA can’t protect you from power failure. There can be many natural disasters that can affect a data center. Thus, your DR plan should consider these natural disasters. We are going to share some tips that will help you in protecting your data center.

Location:

You should find a perfect location for your data center. Also, you must try your best to protect your data center from the natural disaster. Thus, your data center must be located in the interior rooms. There should be no windows in this room. If hurricanes are common in your area, then you should go for an underground location. However, you need to make sure that flooding is not a problem in your area. If you are in an earthquake zone, then you should build a strong building. Your building must follow all the government compliances.

Backup Power:

A power outage is still the biggest problem for data centers. UPS failure can shut down your whole data center. Thus, you should find a good UPS for your data center. It is important to ensure that it is getting continuous power. Also, you should regulate the voltage level.

Fire Suppression:

Most data centers are using sprinkler systems for dealing with fire. However, this is a very ineffective method. It can destroy your equipment and servers. If you want to protect your data center, then you should try a “pre-action” system. It will reduce the fire before activating the traditional system. You can also use modern fire-suppression systems for protecting your data center. Also, you should properly test your fire alarm. If your fire alarm is not working properly, then it will not activate your fire suppression system.

Flood Control:

If you are in a flood-prone area, then the pumping system is very important for you. You should install a pumping system in your data center. It is important to connect this with your generator power. Thus, it will work even if the electric grid is not working.

Flexible Processes:

Your employees should know about their roles. You should create a good DR plan first. Your workers should also know about their responsibilities. They should monitor your equipment. You should update your runbooks. This will ensure that you can easily recover your equipment. You should document the whole DR process. Your employees should have to power to make decisions. This will help them in modifying your plan according to the situation.

Testing:

Almost every organization has its own DR plan. However, they never test this DR plan. It is important to test your DR plan every 6 months. This will ensure that your plan is still relevant. Your DR plan should be updated according to your data center environment.

Conclusion

A natural disaster is still the biggest challenge for data centers. You need to ensure that your data center is protected from these natural disasters. The recent COVID-19 outbreak has proved the importance of DR plan. You should be ready for every kind of natural disaster. First, you should ensure that your data center is in a good location. This will help you in reducing the possibility of a natural disaster. You need to ensure that you are using a good USP. Also, make sure that you are using a good fire suppression system. Every company is working on its Disaster Recovery strategy. However, they are not testing their DR plan. You should test your DR plan. This will help you in updating your DR plan according to your needs. If you need more information regarding the Disaster Recovery Plan, then you can contact Bleuwire.

Contact us today to learn about Bleuwire™ services and solutions in how we can help your business.