Emil Prpiæ, M. Sc. E. E.
Key Projects Dept. Manager
Alarm automatika d.o.o, Rijeka, Croatia

Emil Prpiæ works at Alarm automatika Ltd, first in Technical Support, later as Projects Dept. manager. At the present position, among other, manages integrated safety & security systems implementation projects for large business and industrial clients. Assists on several articles on this subjects, published in “Security Info” and “GO21” magazines. Co-authors, authors and leads a number of educational and training seminars, articles and lectures – both internal, client-specific, and public, for system designers and installers – in the field of physical security and safety technical systems.

Physical Security and Safety of Data Centers – an Integrated Approach
Lecture gives an overview of design principles as well as implementation methods of an integrated security and safety system in a typical data center. As a facility of special importance, a data center needs an extra careful security plan. As a first step, a holistic threat assessment - taking into account all relevant threats and its probabilities, as well as their respective scopes of damage and indirect consequences, and possible means of realizing the threats – is to be made. Based on this assessment a concept of integrated solution can be devised, as an optimal set of ways of preventing the threats. This includes fire detection and extinguishing (which typically requires a non-standard approach for an optimal and effective protection, including extra sensitive smoke detectors and micro-localised extinguishing), mechanic and electronic access control (that can range from regular to very high security level biometric solutions, and be constrained to general access or as specific as cabinet level), intrusion alarm (which is usually a collection point of monitoring and alarming of an integrated system), video surveillance (for retroactive analysis of a potential abuse activities) and video verification (for remote live visual contact in order to verify the authenticity of an alarm), as well as standard security procedures and involvement of security guards and other personnel. This concept is then a basis for a full implementation design. High significance and importance of protected premises requires also a special and often non-standard approach to design, which unfortunately is not always, or fully appreciated. Therefore, such systems can be, and in everyday practice are sometimes ineffective, dysfunctional or at least suboptimal. Several most frequent positive and negative experiences are laid out and analyzed. A concept of integration between information security and physical security is discussed, with special emphasis on conceptual and implementation problems and collisions.