Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
had. multiple. large. diesel. generators. and. huge. reservoirs. of.
diesel.fuel..They.also.had.a.system.that.recycles.all.of.the.heat.
generated.by.the.servers.to.heat.the.building,.and.they.have.
managed. to. cut. their. energy. consumption. way. down. with.
some.amazing.and.eficient.systems.
Whatever.your.physical.storage.medium,.you.should.ensure.
it.is.safe.from.intruders.and.disasters.to.whatever.extent.is.pos-
sible.and.makes.sense.from.a.risk.management.perspective.
It.will.also.be.important.to.test.those.systems.on.a.regular.
basis.to.ensure.that.the.redundant.cooling.and.power.proce-
dures.work.in.an.emergency.and.to.consider.how.you.would.
respond.if.they.failed.
You.also.need.to.consider.a.robust.and.consistent.backup.
procedure.whether.you.are.an.organization.or.simply.dealing.
with. your. personal. data.. There. are. many. different. backup.
systems. available. depending. on. your. speciic. needs.. For. a.
personal.system,.you.can.either.back.up.your.data.on.a.regu-
lar. basis. to. an. online. storage. system. or. back. up. to. a. con-
nected. device. such. as. an. external. USB. drive. or. a. separate.
part.of.your.hard.drive.
Online.or.cloud.services.are.becoming.quite.ubiquitous.and.
can. be. relatively. inexpensive. or. even. free. depending. on. the.
amount.of.data.you.need.to.store.there..You.need.to.be.cogni-
zant.of.some.caveats,.however,.if.this.is.your.choice.of.backup.
medium..When.choosing.to.store.your.data.on.an.Internet.site,.
you.are.basically.extending.your.network.or.data.set.to.a.physi-
cal. and. logical. location. that. is. no. longer. in. your. immediate.
control..In.fact,.by.the.very.nature.of.Internet.or.cloud.storage,.
your. data. could. be. residing. on. a. server. in. another. country.
thousands. of. miles. away.. It. could. be. administered. by. poorly.
paid.and.poorly.vetted.employees.of.an.outsourced.contractor.
for.the.organization.to.which.you.thought.you.were.commit-
ting. your. data.. The. organization. might. even. be. a. couple. of.
guys.in.a.garage.with.a.small.server.center..They.might.have.
little.or.no.physical.or.logical.security.in.place,.no.backups,.and.
no.recovery.plan.in.case.their.garage.catches.ire.or.loods.or.
some.authorities.come.in.and.coniscate.their.(your).servers.
