If you’ve ever embarked on a major room remodeling project—like “bare walls” or even pulling down drywall—you know it’s a great opportunity to change those little things that irk you about a room. Change switch locations, the presence of outlets, and so on. The data center is no different, and when embarking on a data center modernization project, it’s a great chance to build in extra security.

Augmenting Security With a Data Center Modernization

If your data center is about to undergo modernization, it’s likely been a while since security was fully considered. Take advantage of that fact to make some vital changes.

Location, location, location. A data center should be located not only 20 miles from headquarters or more, but also at least 100 feet back from the main road. Consider the area’s climate and topography; don’t locate in places likely to be flooded or hit by tornadoes. No one can protect against everything, but try to head off the most obvious problems.

Layout in layers. Don’t build your data center such that the main door walks right into the server room. Instead, incorporate several rooms, each with physical controls, to improve your security against physical intrusion. Consider the locations of video cameras as well, and appropriately staff and stock locations to handle that footage. Think “layers” and you’ll be well on the way.

Modernize your infrastructure. Replacing servers can be a good idea, especially if you’re still using tape drives or old servers. Don’t just stop at the data handling portion of the data center; consider all the threats to your data center and protect against them. Heating and cooling, ventilation, backup power systems…all of these points address potential threats as readily as an antivirus program.

Don’t forget encryption. Perimeter defense has long been the security standard, both physical and software-based. Yet many forget about establishing points to secure data via encryption. Since we know that data breaches are no longer a matter of if, but rather when, take advantage of this fact to make data useless to any who would try to take it through encryption.

When You Need Help Building Security During Data Center Modernization

There’s a lot to consider in augmenting security in a data center modernization, and it’s easy to miss possibilities for improving security. When you want to make the most of your data center modernization, drop us a line at EmconIT. Not only can we offer data center relocation services if you decide to move it while modernizing it, but we can also test your systems against intrusion and stage complete risk assessment. Just get in touch with us to get started.