RE: DATACENTER: Mixed Use Facility

["Roeland M.J. Meyer" <rmeyer@mhsc.com>]

> -----Original Message-----
> [mailto:owner-datacenter@itchy.shorty.com]On Behalf Of Sean Donelan
> Sent: Sunday, June 06, 1999 12:26 AM
>
> Robert Szarka <szarka@downcity.net> writes:
> >We'll own the building, so the only wall bashing we need to
> worry about is
> >cars careening out of control or mercenary RBOC assault teams.  The
> >building is brick construction--would folks agree that "8
> inch reinforced
> >concrete" a la
> >http://www.thestandard.com/articles/display/0%2C1449%2C4804%2
> C00.html?home.tf
> >might be a little much, or is that sort of thing likely to
> be a concern?
> >(I should ask, will it be *perceived* as a concern by folks
> to whom we want
> >to rent co-lo space?)
>
> Distance is your best protection.  Ideally you want to stop the car or
> RBOC assault team as far away from the walls of your facility
> as possible.
>
> You're correct, it has a lot more to do with perception than reality.

I know the original post was a joke. However, I was at IBM, Santa Teresa
Labs when some whacko drove his car through the facade of the Cottle
Road facility (San Jose) and proceeeded to assault personel at the
facility (he started shooting), in 1991.

> If your threat analysis includes well-trained and well-funded
> adversaries,
> normal 8-inch reinforced concrete can be penetrated in about
> 15 minutes
> assuming they want to access, remove or preserve whatever is
> behind the
> wall.

I don't see that at all, however, there IS the occasional whacko, not to
mention the seasonal riots. Some of this depends on the location.

> Obviously if they just want to destroy the facility,
> there are even
> faster methods. The reality is a) very few co-location
> facilities face that
> type of threat, b) the worst-case theoretical loss isn't
> enough to justify
> more expensive protection, and c) building a bunker which
> greatly exceeds
> its supporting infrastructure is pretty much a waste of
> money.  There is a reason why insurance exists.

Leasing/Buying an old CO isn't terribly expensive, if you can find one
available. When PacBell was deploying the Broadband system I got to tour
some many of the Bay Area COs. A 5ESS is a *bunch* smaller than those
old cross-bar systems. What used to occupy three floors, now takes a
corner of one floor. The rest is largely unused. The RBOCS are missing a
bet in not leasing out the floor-space. Oh yeah, those old COs are
mini-forts. Some of them are NBC certified.

> Your salesperson should be able to address the issue using
> your facility risk analysis.  Other physical protection measures
include

Insurance doesn't cover loss-of-business due to riots, or similar
situations. A car driven through your machine-room kind of ruins your
revenue stream for a while. So will a fire. Any business that is down
for more than 10 days will likely NEVER come back online. Granted, the
best solution is multiple redundant sites.