The Need for Physical Security at the Edge

Real-time data transmission might be the single most important factor impacting all technological developments today. It becomes all the more essential in certain cases like for applications running medical equipment or self-driving cars, where every split-second is important. This makes edge data centers essential and ubiquitous.

Traditional data centers and cloud computing are both moving to the edge of the network with edge data centers and edge cloud respectively. These developments have brought in new challenges for cybersecurity, and have created a void for management of physical security for these edge sites.

A huge enterprise with thousands of edge computing sites or small & medium businesses with a handful of those sites, or any business for that matter which is handling critical business applications at the edge, is going to need the same level of security. A special focus on physical security is required for edge sites which are usually unstaffed because any kind of breach – unintentional or nefarious can lead to debilitating downtime and huge monetary losses. It creates an opportunity for IT solution providers to extend a managed physical security service.

As the edge sites keep cropping up, they demand a similar level of attention and security as any server room or data center. Any undetected sudden change in an edge site needs to be conveyed to the administrators so that appropriate action can be taken. Edge computing environments are very valuable and the physical and monitoring systems for these sites offer an opportunity for IT companies.

Imagine if an edge computing site gets flooded, or the cooling system malfunctions or temperature fluctuates extremely, sensitive IT equipment might malfunction in such cases, causing downtime and huge monetary losses. With security and monitoring services sensors and deployed and programmed to shutdown mission critical equipment and intimating the administrators, thus, helping in avoiding a calamity.

Physical security management at an edge site needs to take care of the following:

1. Environment Supervision – The data center is remotely managed for any unwanted interruption or interference, with the use of audio and video monitoring.
2. Securing the Physical Space – Any sudden changes in the surrounding caused by fire, flood, smoke, or change extreme changes in temperature and humidity can be detected and tackled by sensors.
3. Managing Access – The monitoring solution must manage access to the edge data center, and prevent any unauthorized access.

Physical security systems provide tools and management for monitoring and security at edge computing sites. These solutions include audio and visual monitoring devices with motion detection, programmed to control accesses and shut down critical equipment in case of an emergency and sensors to detect fluctuations in temperature, humidity, fire, smoke or flooding. Such tools when integrated into third-party systems like remote monitoring will enable them to monitor the physical security of the sites as well. This kind of versatility allows the IT solution providers to manage the physical environments of edge computing sites using the same tools which monitor and manage their IT environment.

Smart devices and IoT have proliferated in the last decade and have made data very important for all the industries. Edge infrastructure has proved its significance in the future of IT, and thus businesses are investing to protect the edge data centers remotely against any physical threats. These remote monitoring solutions are easy to deploy and can manage multiple sites at a time, which makes them pocket-friendly. With the growing dependence on data, there is a need for reliable and innovative solutions to keep the edge data centers secure and keep the smart, flexible and dynamic systems up and running at all times.