Mary-Louise Hoffman
Merging data centers could help federal agencies save money and improve efficiency but such a consolidation also has natural or man-made disruptions to overcome, OpenGear CEO Rick Stevenson wrote in an article for Nextgov published Wednesday.
He writes that data center consolidation is logistically a complex endeavor, particularly if multiple different agencies are involved.
Power outages, excessive humidity and heat, security threats and natural disasters are among the challenges for a consolidated data respository hub, according to Stevenson.
“To diminish the ill effects of faults when they inevitably occur, dedicated monitoring systems should be put in place that can diagnose problems and communicate the details in real time,” he stated.
He added that regular maintenance is also a must to reduce the risk of system downtime and that operators should have at least one backup that is situated in a distant locale.
Stevenson explained that organizations should also consider remote access to a data center because it lessens physical footprint and aids security.
“Monitoring data centers and networks remotely and out-of-band, via cellular or modem connections, speeds up resolution times – potentially reducing latencies that could be downright critical for our government.”
