EDITOR’S QUESTION
IT IS IMPORTANT
TO ENSURE THAT
THE LOCATION OF
THE DATA CENTRE
IS CHOSEN FOR
ITS PHYSICAL
SECURITY
WHERE IT WILL
BE SAFE FROM
UNAUTHORISED
ACCESS AS WELL
AS FORTIFIED
AGAINST ANY
CYBERSECURITY
BREACHES.
YASSER ZEINELDIN,
CEO OF EHOSTING
DATAFORT
ata is critical to every
organisation and there
is a worldwide increase
of data centre facilities
and usage. The location
of a data centre is as
important to the service provider as it is to
the end customer. Some of the most vital
factors that determine the data centre sites
revolve around the actual physical location,
governmental mandates, power and
network accessibility, weather conditions,
security and professional skills. All of these
have a striking effect and contribute to the
service quality of any data centre.
D
When choosing a data centre location, it is
important to consider the proximity of the
physical infrastructure for customers. The
ripple effect of this filters into customers
being more confident in knowing where
the data centres are situated and if need
www.intelligentdatacentres.com
be, having access to them. Simultaneously,
it provides customers with quick response
times and minimal latency. On the other
hand, for service providers, weather
conditions and natural disaster-prone
locations play a significant role in the
choice of location to circumvent the latent
risk conditions. For example, at eHosting
DataFort, we have invested in cost-efficient
cooling systems to sidestep the extreme
climatic conditions in the UAE.
Another key factor is the proximity to
power resources and strong network
connectivity to ensure ongoing availability
and speed of data transfer. Added to this is
real estate costs that must be considered
for long term strategic goals which may
include expansion of the data centre.
In recent years there is an increasing
need to adhere to governmental rules and
regulations which highlight and focus on
data protection. Compliance is critical
both within the home country as well as
the laws of the country in which the data
centre is situated. While it is not only
applicable to specific industries such as
oil and gas, finance and healthcare, it has
now extended into regional requirements
such as the European Union’s GDPR to
protect the data and privacy of individuals.
Access to skilled professionals is yet another
requisite when choosing to build a data
centre. With the skills gap in the IT industry,
one must ensure that these specialists are
available to match the needs of the markets.
If not, then the escalating costs of recruiting
and retaining these professionals will mean
higher budget allocations.
Data centres contain critical information
which includes customer data and
intellectual property and it is important to
ensure that the location of the data centre is
chosen for its physical security where it will
be safe from unauthorised access as well as
fortified against any cybersecurity breaches.
Issue 01
27