Power Protection FEATURED ARTICLE

Power Protection - Because Your Data Really is That Critical

May 24, 2011

By Susan J. Campbell, TMCnet Contributing Editor

If you examine city development 100 plus years ago, you will find pictures of magnificent light displays atop corporate buildings as electric companies tried to demonstrate that electric power was safe enough to be wired into homes. A look at these same cities today shows the different elements relying on power and the potential to shut down the city if proper power protection is lacking.

The same is true for the enterprise today. A recent Data Center Dynamics piece highlights how data center operators are consistently worried about the health of IT and engineering. Even with this concern for power protection, however, a number of incidents in the data center space have demonstrated that caution is somewhat lacking when it comes to data center staff.

A research paper released by James Turner, a data center analyst with IBRS, noted that the optimized environment for the data center can easily increase the associated risk inside the center for its electricians, operations staff and engineers. In speaking with different individuals in the industry to gauge their approach to power protection, Turner discovered that one engineer had been left inside the data center when a fire alarm was activated. Because of his location, the engineer could not hear the alarm.

A second incident centered for an engineer working in a data center that was third-party owned. When he noticed the smell of smoke, the engineer realized that he was stuck in a pitch black room. When power protection failed, there were no visible exit signs, and the engineer was stuck. Fortunately, there was no danger as an electrician working elsewhere in the building had shortened out several circuits, causing the blackout and the smoke.

In essence, these issues were not so much IT problems as they were problems with essential safety measures. The reality, unfortunately, is that these kinds of problems occur every day and can leave a business standing idle when power protection is not in place. It is common for the enterprise to believe that it won’t happen to them, but what will happen to the company’s processes and data if power fails?

Critical data is something no company can afford to lose. At the same time, they also cannot afford to put their people or their systems at risk of a power failure. Power protection is essential to ensure the optimal safety and overall business continuity. In fact, according to a J.D. Power & Associates study, the average business experiences 5.7 outages per year. While the average outage may last only 10 minutes, rebooting all systems can take much longer.

Can you afford to leave your power protection plan unfulfilled? Can you afford to stop business for several hours out of the year to deal with a power outage? If you cannot keep business processes going without power protection, it’s time that you have a solid plan in place.

Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMCnet and has also written for eastbiz.com. To read more of Susan’s articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Carrie Schmelkin

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Power Protection FEATURED ARTICLE

Power Protection - Because Your Data Really is That Critical

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