Security and Power Distribution: How to Safeguard Your PDUs

Downtime in data centers and mission-critical facilities can cost operators hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars, but money isn’t the only thing at stake when data operations are compromised, says Calvin Nicholson, senior director of product management at Legrand.

Network facilities and infrastructure are critical to keeping society running. Since power-related problems cause 43 percent of significant data center outages alone (as defined by the Uptime InstituteOpens a new window ), ensuring the reliability and resilience of a data center or mission-critical facility’s power infrastructure is crucial.

Hundreds of potential vulnerabilities may spring to mind when you think of the networks within your data operations, but power quality and distribution are often wrongly overlooked as a vulnerability. In fact, data center operators face the constant risk of power attacks, which target a server’s power consumption and can result in equipment damage, outages and stolen data. Protecting vital infrastructure from the power spikes and surges that could threaten a mission-critical facility’s uptime should be a critical priority for today’s facility managers.

Risk management and business continuity protection begin with improving resiliency for data operations, and power is a key component of resiliency. This article will explore the function that power distribution units (PDUs) fulfill in the data center and wider mission-critical ecosystem as well as how IT professionals can strengthen the integrity of their infrastructure to drive that resiliency by selecting PDUs that will provide necessary power to equipment but also protect uptime and performance, namely with important security considerations. Those considerations include secure boot processes, terminal access control and password policies, encryption, firewalls and certificates.

See More: How Data Centers Rely on Cutting-Edge Technologies for Maximum Security

Power quality is a measure of the steadiness and usability of electric current. Good power quality comes from consistent voltage, steady AC frequency, and a smooth waveform that resembles a sine wave. When good power quality is maintained, operations run smoothly, and downtime is decreased.

PDUs manage and distribute electricity within data centers and data installations within facilities and are typically installed at the rack level. IT professionals can select more advanced power distribution units to monitor and manage power flow within an installation. They need to seek out models that will accomplish their overall power distribution and monitoring needs and provide best-in-class security to protect the operation.

Essentially, security is like an engine in a car. Every car needs to have an engine to run, but not all engines are designed the same or offer the same performance. In order to have top performance in a car, you need a powerful engine. In order to have top performance in your data operations, you need to have powerful security.

If intelligent PDUs are not in use, monitoring and securing data infrastructure becomes more complex and challenging to support. Incorporating intelligent PDU solutions equipped with internal, chip-level secure boot processes that protect against malware attached can keep power stable and other security operations safe.

Access control is a basic building block of IT security. Professionals tasked with security often need to deploy access control systems quickly without adding bulky wiring and prevent unauthorized access. Devices offering TACACS+ protocols at the PDU level provide access control features that permit access by approved personnel while keeping unauthorized people out.

Enforced password policies are also a critical component of PDU security. Selecting units that ensure passwords are strong and current with the minimum required number and types of characters and that offer programming to force password updates can provide the first line of defense against hacking.

Since PDUs are connected to management or production networks, it is important to ensure that data received or sent by the devices is encrypted. Selecting products that are secured with HTTPS or SSH encryption by default is ideal. Additional encrypted connection capabilities and protocols will also level up the security factor.

There are a number of reasons that PDUs would be accessed over the network, whether for reporting purposes, critical notifications or power control. Because several systems and users need access to various segments of a broader network, firewalls are important to protect from unauthorized access. Utilizing IP-based access control lists and role-based access control rules can block access to the PDU, protecting power quality and uptime.

Finally, X.509 digital certificates ensure secure connection from authorized users. Accessing PDUs over public networks is becoming more common. Therefore, valid security certificates are the main line of defense against man-in-the-middle attacks.

Ultimately, security at the PDU level boils down to only letting the right people gain access and keeping the wrong people out in order to protect the power quality performance of these units. Power distribution units are more than just power strips to provide multiple outlets to plug a bunch of equipment into. These units are critical to keeping IT infrastructure operational and efficient.

Since power is the lifeblood of all facilities, it is critical to protect it. Protecting power quality protects and extends equipment service life and directly impacts the bottom line. Overall risk management and business continuity begin with improving the resiliency of data centers and mission-critical data systems.

How are you ensuring that your power distribution units (PDUs) are not compromising data center operations and network security? Share with us on FacebookOpens a new window , TwitterOpens a new window , and LinkedInOpens a new window .

Senior Director of Product Management , Legrand