Access control

An important aspect of IT safety is the protection from unpermitted access to systems by employees or externals. In principle, only few employees should have access to the data center, not only to reduce the danger of unintentional damages, but also, to prevent intentional manipulation or data leakage.

The data center is a neuralgic point of a company representing a target for interception and damages to your business.

Therefore it is important to control access to a data center. Doors of safety rooms- and cabinets should be secured by access control systems. The market offers different systems which vary considerably in investment costs but also in degree of safety which they offer.

The technically simplest solution is a safety lock. Adversely to this is, however, not only can a key be copied relatively easily, but only as many persons have access as keys are available. Furthermore with loss of a key the whole lock must be exchanged. For key locks it is important that the key can only be removed when the door is locked to prevent that the data center remaining inadvertently open.

Instead of a mechanical key electronic keys can be used in the form of transponders or chip cards. These offer the advantage that new keys simply can be programmed and in case of loss of a key the lock won’t have to be exchanged as it can be reprogrammed. More so, one also can supervise and store data of electronic keys, for example by whom and when the data center has been entered.

Another alternative is a combination lock. Arbitrarily users can either use a uniform password or each user receives a password his own. Even here the customization of the user number is not a problem, but it is to consider that a password can be passed on faster by employees who should actually not have continuous access to the data center. However, this kind of security risk can be avoided with regular changes of passwords.

For data centers with high security requirements we recommend biometrical access control systems. Usually through identification via fingerprint or iris scan, as known through the media. This system offers all advantages of other electronic access systems, but additionally biometrics data cannot be stolen or copied. At present, these access control systems will be installed only on demand.

In larger data centers single areas can be defined and assigned with individual access rights only.

There is a common main entrance for all authorized personnel but within the data center for example a climate technician only has access to the infrastructure areas but not to the server areas. If the main entrance and the entrances to the areas are secured with different

systems, for example a numerical code and a transponder, it automatically represents an additional barrier. For example It won’t be possibly get access with a stolen transponder. In addition, the access control system is still supported by an intrusion detection system and Video surveillance.

Besides the question how to enter a data center it should also be known how to exit it. To prevent that employees are locked in or lock themselves by mistake, a panic unblocking is attached to the inside of the door which makes it possible to leave the data center at any time.

When deciding for a certain access control system it should be established, what kind of safety level is needed, how many employees have access and whether there are regular changes. If you have questions on access control systems, we are happy to advise you. We help you to protect your IT. Don’t hesitate to ask us, we’ll take care of IT.

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