Designing a server room is one thing, but keeping it safe and operational is another – and for some businesses – it should be a top priority. After all – if your servers go down, that’s countless hours of productivity lost in addition to a whole mountain of risk.
One of the biggest challenges businesses face is keeping their server rooms secure. And by secure – we mean keeping people out of the server room who may intentionally or unintentionally harm your setup. That being said, it’s not as easy as simply setting some software and leaving it be. Physical security can be a significant challenge – and one we’re going to help walk you through today.
Here are some tips on how to keep your server room safe and secure – and why it’s important. Let’s jump right in!
Who should be allowed access?
Servers run entirely on their own and to be honest – few people should have any reason to go in there in the first place. Obviously – for things like maintenance and repairs – folks from IT should have access. Those are your system and operational folks, developers, programs, department leaders and the like, but outside of them no one should really be in there.
How do I figure out who that should be?
We recommend asking yourself three, simple questions:
-Which department owns the access?
-Who establishes the rules?
-Based off those, who should be allowed inside?
Once those questions are answered, it’s then time to control and monitor for access to any and all entrances and exits. Locked doors usually aren’t enough. People pass keys and key cards around all the time. Make it its own special designation or password-protected entrance.
Should I heighten security?
Obviously in some businesses, controlling who and how they get into entrances will be more than enough. But in other businesses, the information you have is not only meaningful to your business – but perhaps it’s private, confidential information. In that case, you might want to consider monitoring the room with a camera.
Now it’s important to remember that while surveillance might not catch everything, it can help better track who is actually going into the room and who is trying to get in.
Don’t forget that’s not just about the exterior.
Access, entrances and surveillance aren’t all you need to do. Make sure the contents of your server room are secured, too. Make sure networking and power cables are organized and locked. That servers are secured in their racks and behind a lock and key. Make sure that anything that could get damaged or tampered with has an extra layer of defense just in case the worst happens.
Keeping your server room protected should be a key priority for any business. Much of your productivity depends on it! Hopefully these tips will help you think of ways that you can blend a variety of tools and security measures together to help create a plan that works for you. Good luck!