What are the benefits of co-locating your company’s infrastructure in an outsourced commercial Data Center? Talex, a company that operates two DC facilities located in Poznan and Wroclaw, has an answer to this question.

The last two years have changed the way businesses around the world operate. Employees whose physical presence is not required for their duties to be performed are encouraged to work from home. Along with a considerable increase in the cost of running a business, more and more Polish companies are deciding to reduce their used corporate infrastructure and occupied office space. Relocating the infrastructure to a Data Center solves these problems – it not only increases the level of security and ensures business continuity, but also allows for precise prediction of infrastructure maintenance costs and greater flexibility of company operations.

Data Centers – what characteristics they have as facilities

Data Centers are centers for processing data. Each of us has wondered at times where the information held in the cloud is located. Usually it is precisely the space separated in the DC. The rooms that store the technical infrastructure are called capsules. In each of them, optimal environmental conditions are created for the operation and life of the equipment, together with systems to prevent failures, such as an extinguishing system that pumps oxygen out of the rooms, as a way to suppress a possible fire without damaging the technical infrastructure. In addition to these fire extinguishing systems, Talex Data Centers are equipped with power generators with backup fuel tanks, uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) that in the event of a power outage keep the power supply going until the generators are fully operational, air conditioning systems that maintain the ideal temperature in the capsules, and a supervision center that monitors the condition of the capsules and other infrastructure components on a 24/7 basis.

Data Center facilities include security of location at the conceptual stage before their construction begins. The ideal DC is located so that it has access to two independent power grids. It is made prepared for flooding (land drainage), built far from areas prone to flooding, located outside of air traffic (air disasters) and away from urban centers (spreading fires). This concept, slightly pessimistic, provides the highest degree of environmental safety.

Protection against the greatest threat

Despite multiple security measures, DCs are still vulnerable to data leaks. Therefore, selecting top-of-the-line physical and cyber security measures plays a huge role in the work of companies like Talex.

In order to gain full control over physical access, it is necessary to ensure proper security infrastructure and an adequate system to control its operation. At Talex Data Center, in addition to CCTV monitoring systems, card readers and biometric scanners of the access control (“KD”) system are used, as well as an advanced intrusion detection system (IDS). All these systems are integrated with the Nedap AEOS platform, which manages an extensive physical security infrastructure.

The manufacturer of both the physical components and the software that integrates AEOS is Nedap Security Management. Talex decided to cooperate with Nedap not only because of the possibility of obtaining equipment and a management system from a single trusted partner, but also with regard to the highest standard of services we provide, the extensive possibilities of integration of AEOS with our systems, and the knowledge shared with our specialists about the system and its installation.

– This last point was of particular importance to us, allowing our experts to learn new skills and carry out an independent implementation of the system at our second Talex DC in Wroclaw in 2018,” explains Maciej Pucinski, physical security and building automation architect at Talex. And he adds: – Traditional physical security systems, seeking to meet the growing expectations of users, have reached the limit of their technological capabilities. The ever-increasing number of cloud services, server virtualization, and the rapid growth of mobility have prompted Talex specialists to rethink the concept of operating a physical security structure.

Nedap has provided our company with a system that enables large-scale self-construction of the necessary structures, which results in time savings and makes the system characterized by lower error rates and higher availability rates (Mean Time Between Maintenance – MTBM). In turn, the option to automate specific areas reduces the operating expenses (OPEX – Operating Expenditures) incurred in the processes of design, implementation and commissioning of a physical security system.

Talking about data protection, the aspect of cyber security cannot be overlooked. Hacker attacks pose a major threat to data security and corporate image (loss of customer trust). In order to protect against them, DCs are subject to strict SOC (Security Operations Center) control. Using SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) systems, cyber security experts can monitor DC activity logs in real time, managing the network and isolating suspicious activity. In the case of Talex Data Center, to add another layer of security, we have established a CSIRT (Computer Security Incident Response Team), which proactively analyzes possible incidents and investigates new types of cyberattacks.

The service most often provided by commercial Data Centers is the co-location of physical equipment in a Data Center. A properly secured power infrastructure precludes the possibility of any interruption in the operation of any equipment co-located in the facility, and advanced air conditioning systems prevent overheating and system breakdown. The absence of outages, operational accidents or the need for equipment maintenance after a problem occurs makes it possible to accurately calculate infrastructure costs and better plan budgets.

Moving the infrastructure to a dedicated DC frees enterprises from the need to invest, maintain and operate hardware or to build their own data center. Co-location can be extended with a hosting service, i.e. the construction and maintenance by DC experts of another part of the infrastructure.

Another most commonly chosen service is cloud computing. Data Centers have their own powerful resources for data processing. The aforementioned colocation reduces the costs related to investing in real estate. Likewise, cloud services reduce expenditures on IT hardware and software. Data Centers provide the infrastructure needed to use the platforms and programs shared by cloud services, and when a given resource is no longer needed (or an additional one is required!), the user can adjust the scope of service usage.

New business approach

The way business operates is evolving. The Covid-19 pandemic forced employees to work remotely. Many companies were affected by difficulties in logistics, especially those related to the operation of physical equipment, access to key information and enterprise resources. Server failure was, and still is, capable of paralyzing the work of an entire organization.

Data center owners such as Talex S.A. offer colocation and cloud computing services to their business partners – protecting against infrastructure failures and securing data when colocated, and enabling flexible customization of resources used by enterprises on virtualization platforms. This way, even when working remotely, professionals can take advantage of the latest technologies and powerful computing power. Companies supported by the DC do not have to worry about their technical infrastructure. Instead, they can devote all their attention to the core business of their company.

Article published on a&s Polska portal