Luis Ayala

Comprehensive Security for Data Centers and Mission Critical Facilities Luis Ayala

What are Mission Critical facilities? Mission Critical facilities must operate 8,760 hours per year without interruption. Because of my background in the Department of Defense (DoD), naturally I tend to think of mission critical facilities as those required by the military in support of the warfighter. Although most data centers are operated for commercial customers, increasingly the Department of Defense is beginning to contract for data center service from commercial suppliers and in many cases, DoD requires that the data center comply with Department of defense security requirements. That said, I will endeavor to include the requirements DoD expects so that your data center can meet those requirements should the need arise.
For many years, NFPA 75 has been the standard of care for fire protection of IT equipment. DoD, GSA and VA design manuals and standards require the provisions of NFPA 75 be adhered to in full, with certain additional provisions. Compliance with NFPA 75 is rarely required by local building or fire codes but is routinely applied to IT equipment facilities on a prescriptive basis. A documented risk assessment is the basis for implementation of the standard for commercial facilities.
Previously, NFPA 75-2013 contained statements that run counter to the 24x7 requirement for data centers such as Section 8.4.2.1, which stated "the power to all electronic equipment shall be disconnected upon activation of a gaseous-agent total flooding system..." The NFPA 75-2017 edition made significant changes to the minimum level of requirements to protect IT equipment from fire and the effects of fire.
Topics covered include:
Site Security
Building Security
Cyber-Security
EMP Protection
Insider Threat