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Showing posts with label Disaster. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Disaster. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Seven Ways to Prepare Your Data Center for a Natural Disaster

You  wants to think about a disaster crippling or even destroying their data center. But even as hurricane season has ended for Atlantic and Gulf Coast states, wildfires are raging in Southern California. Earthquakes are an ever-present danger. Disaster planning is moving higher up in the priority list for many data center managers.

Disaster recovery (DR) planning typically focuses on data protection and application availability. Most organizations consider the information maintained on servers and storage devices to be infinitely more valuable than the technology itself. However, DR plans should also include provisions for protecting equipment from physical damage.

Location: Ideally, data centers would be located in a geographic area that's not prone to natural disaster. That's seldom possible, so organizations must do the best they can to isolate it from any disaster that does occur. That means locating the room in an interior room or at least as far away from windows as possible. In areas where hurricanes and tornadoes are the greatest threat, an underground location may be the best option (unless flooding is a problem). In earthquake zones, it's critical to select a well-constructed building that's compliant with the latest codes.

Backup Power: Power outages are a leading cause of equipment downtime, and UPS failure is the No. 1 cause of unplanned equipment outages. UPS should be carefully selected, implemented and maintained to ensure a steady supply of conditioned power with a regulated voltage level.

Fire Suppression: Many data centers rely on conventional sprinkler systems, but water can destroy equipment and cause other problems as well. A better approach is to employ a dry "pre-action" system that will extinguish most fires before the sprinkler system is activated. Modern fire-suppression systems use halo-carbons, which remove heat from fires, or inert gases, which deprive them of oxygen. Both can provide excellent fire suppression if the system is properly designed, installed and tested. The fire alarm should also be tested - if it is faulty, the fire-suppression system might not be activated.

Flood Control: If the data room is located in a flood-prone area, a pumping system should be installed. The system should activate automatically and be connected to generator power so that it continues operation if the electric grid goes down.

Earthquake Protection: In earthquake-prone areas, it's important to select racks and cabinets that are rated to withstand seismic activity. These units typically have special mounting brackets to attach them securely to the floor.

Flexible Processes: Data center personnel should understand their responsibilities and be thoroughly trained in DR procedures. Equipment should be monitored by at least one person at all times. Run-books should be kept up-to-date so that equipment can be recovered or reconfigured quickly in an emergency. DR processes should also be well-documented but flexibility is important. Personnel should feel empowered to make decisions and improvise based upon the situation at hand.

Test: In most organizations, the DR plan is seldom, if ever tested. The plan should be tested at least twice a year and updated as the environment and business priorities change.

These seven steps can help build design a flexible and resilient data center infrastructure and select systems that will protect your valuable equipment and efficiency.

Friday, September 13, 2013

Disaster And Incident Command System

Disaster system and structure works and quick respond.There is a disaster in waiting every moment, so it is of utmost importance to have a system in place that would tackle the challenges faced during any such emergency and provide the required help to the people in need.

This system needs to be available in all the departments of a particular business, practice and residential or commercial structures to make them foolproof from any emergency that can occur at any given time. Also, this system must have all the required equipments and people to pull off a rescue operation with high success percentage.

One such system which is followed in the US is called the Incident Command Structure or System (ICS). The ICS is particularly defined as a method that takes care of the 3C's (control, coordination and command) during an emergency. It could be better explained in a better way as a structure containing predefined rules, a certain number of experts, a fully equipped facility and processes which are used all together to cater response to emergencies of any complexity and type.

The Incident Command System is a well tested and trusted form of managing and reducing the damage caused by an uncalled for emergency. This method of limiting damage has been successfully used by many government and non-government structures, including hospitals and military. The system has also proved its worth in a lot of businesses as well. The major role of ICS is to significantly narrow down the damage caused to property and people during a case of an emergency as well as non-emergency disaster.

The ICS looks majorly into the planning, command, logistics, administration and operations during any particular emergency. Every part of the system is handled by an expert personnel, who takes care of the proper working of his respective are of interest. First of all there is the Planning Section Chief who collects all the required information from every other department and thus constructs a plan of action. Then, there is the incident commander who directs every person and every action. The logistic Chief caters to providing relief material at the facility in question.
The administration Chief looks into the finances during any emergency operation. While the Operation's Chief handles the staff and the residents of the facility in need of emergency help. Apart from these people, there are several others as well who get the operation rolling and inform the media and outside world about the happenings.