Data in times of crisis: The danger of earthquakes and loss of valuable data

It is impossible to predict natural disasters with far-reaching consequences, but we can do our best to prepare for them. While the safety of people is everyone’s first concern, when the dust settles, we start to worry about our data centres.

Data centres in earthquake-prone areas

Data centres are basically large rooms that hold servers, which are usually large towers that are at risk of toppling over when an earthquake of a larger magnitude hits. Earthquake-prone areas (e.g. Japan) have to take this risk seriously, as irreparable damage can be caused to businesses that rely on data. While it may not seem like a major concern when a natural disaster occurs, people will eventually go back to their daily lives: just imagine what would happen if hospitals were to lose their patient information or banks data on their clients’ money status.

Building smart foundations

Modern data centres in Japan are built on shock absorbers, i.e. isolators made from metal and rubber on which buildings “float” while the ground beneath shakes from side to side. Some data centres also have floor-level and rack-level isolators. Rack-level isolators essentially allow for the servers to move along with the building on metal rods, so the force of the quake is attenuated as the servers are allowed to glide but are in no danger of toppling over. This is again something very specific for those areas.

Resolving power shortage

Once the shaking stops, the next issue data centres are faced with is power. Server rooms are equipped with UPS units which will allow them to run for a few minutes and ensure they shut down properly without any loss of data. But what if the power shortage is more long-term? This is where back-up generators come into play, allowing the servers to be up and running for a longer amount of time.

Implementing disaster recovery plans

Disaster recovery plans, which are of high importance for pharmacovigilance service providers who have to prove their Business Continuity over and over on audits and inspections, become extremely important in those situations. ISO/IEC 27001 is an information security standard that helps mitigate such risks. For example, one way to mitigate this risk is to have back-up servers on different tectonic plates, which significantly reduces the risk of data loss and allows for business continuity when a disaster occurs.

It is a challenge, but it is a challenge which service providers have to take head-on and ensure patient safety at all times. In Marti Farm, we make sure that all valuable data is regularly backed-up and taken care of. This includes the backup for our data management solution, as well as our pharmacovigilance solution – Sympto®.

Our business continuity and disaster recovery plan has been put to the test several times during the last year due to the coronavirus outbreak and the earthquake situation, but we have successfully passed these tests, ensuring that our business runs as usual. We are proud of our team and our ability to easily adapt and work even amidst such challenging and troubled times.

Rest assured that Marti Farm continues to work vigilantly during these two crises to successfully manage all of your valuable data and time-sensitive deadlines. But, most of all, we wish for everyone to be safe, healthy and assured that all of us are in this together, being closer than ever.

Lea Debogović, MSc / Senior Pharmacovigilance Associate, Pharmacovigilance Software Validation and Implementation Associate