Working Around the Clock – How SAP’s Data Centers Never Sleep

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In today’s digital economy, uninterrupted access to business data is mission critical for companies across the world. As decision makers need to act fast to innovate, change and update their business, it is crucial that SAP’s data centers adapt to today’s economy which has not only become digital but also real-time. SAP is now supporting the HANA Enterprise Cloud – a comprehensive service that allows companies to leverage the full power of SAP HANA and Big Data in a managed cloud environment. With this, the security of our data centers has become even more significant.

How does SAP ensure that the data centers around the world are safe and accessible 24/7? With state of the art technology that can handle any emergency imaginable and maximum security based on the highest standards of the industry, the SAP Data Centers are not only designed to virtually protect your data, but also physically against natural disasters. If there is  a total blackout, earthquake, fire or floods, it is good to know that all data is stored in a back-up location.

Each data center has its own power generators. In case of a power outage, a redundant back-up power network jumps in immediately. If there is a delay until the second power network takes over, a battery will jump in. The batteries for the emergency power supply must always be charged. To ensure this, the atteries are regularly tested. If a battery’s maximum capacity decreases excessively, it is immediately replaced. The diesel engines are automatically started once per month to perform a full load test. An external company performs tests every threen months using a smoke device to determine whether the ASD and fire detectors are still active. As the servers inside of the data center get warm and need to be cooled, there is always a redundant additional cooling unit.

Data should not only be accessible 365 days a year, but also stored safely. Some of the high standard security measures include monitoring the data centers around the clock, protecting data from unwanted attacks. The entire building of the data center is surrounded by a fence and monitored by cameras inside and out. Inside the data center walls form fire compartments and prevent unauthorized people from walking around and all doors are secured with mantraps, biometric devices and security patches. In order to guarantee that business critical data is stored safely and protected at all times, the data center technology and infrastructure are continuously tested by TÜV, KPMG, and SAP itself (see the list of certificates here). Databases and servers are also routinely checked in
real-time to ensure they operate properly.

For more, see this short video that demonstrates how safety and accessibility are guaranteed at all times.