For half a century, the Albrecht Bäumer GmbH & Co. KG has been pioneering in special machines for the processing of polyurethane foam. Today, Bäumer stands for advanced products with traditionally high quality. The entrepreneurial thinking and leading is guided by traditional values like sovereignty, stability, innovation and consistency, which makes the vision become reality. In 2018, Bäumer acquired a DC IT Safe by Data Center Products for the IT.
“Technically, the need has been there for quite a while, but it just had not been realized yet“, explains IT-manager Michael Stöhr. Towards the end of the nineties, the current data center had been a paper storeroom with two servers. Later, it became an exclusive data center with many servers. However, out of historical and structural reasons, it had several holes and some heating pipes that naturally posed danger. Consequently, the IT-team started thinking about a solution to face this danger and the DC IT Safe seemed to be a good option.
Next to the DC IT Safe, there was also the option to relocate the data center into a different area or adjust the existing room to minimal standards. Both would have involved great effort and cost because heating pipes cannot just be relocated. Hence, the use of IT-safes became more and more likely.
Stöhr: “The contact to the Data Center Group came about through classical letter mailing. Back then, I was surprised by the proximity to our location in Freudenberg. In our first conversation, we talked about the facts and parameters to get a feeling for the necessary investment volume. The cost-benefit ratio within reason so I followed that path with my team.”
After several options were coordinated internally, there was a long and extensive consultation. Problems and goals were discussed to submit an offer that was individually adjusted to the company’s needs
To judge the requirements a little bit better, the Data Center Group was visited in their headquarters in Wallmenroth and an insight was given into the production of the IT-security-safes. This way, any open questions were dealt with and the glimpse into the inside of a safe was interesting and convincing. It was decided on a DC IT Safe with UPS, cooling, fire extinguishing system and monitoring. Stöhr: “We as IT-people have a good feeling about the physical security.
Thanks to the certification of the security safe, the latest audits regarding ISO 9001-2015 and others bore a lot less trouble than in the past. And I am sure that the impressive and trustworthy appearance of the DC IT Safe also contributes to this.” According to Michael Stöhr, another big advantage was the upkeep of the former room so that none of the existing glass fiber and network cables had to be relocated. The rest of the room is now used as storage for spare machines. Since a control room for the fire detection system was also installed last year, there are always engineers and other people around the data center area.
“However, this does not bother us anymore now because there is no potential access to the hardware.” Planning and assignment happened in spring 2018. The setup of the IT-safe began in August. “I am truly amazed by the project management. The requirements regarding delivery and floor space were communicated in advance. Luckily, the unloading and in-house transport via forklifts were not a problem for us as machine builders.
The Data Center Group kept the appointments and both setup and start-up happened in mid-August as planned. At the start of September, we converted the servers on one weekend and activated the IT-safes entirely. After a few small trivialities in the first weeks, which were readjusted quickly, everything is running smoothly now”, summarizes a content Michael Stöhr. The goals regarding physical security were reached and the decisions were just right for the company.
This way, the company would be well set for the future, as the IT-manager stresses. Stöhr: “The problem of non-physical risks through the more and more sophisticated attacks via bits and bytes on the internet and possibly also the internal ones can unfortunately not be solved by the IT-safe. At this point, what can help minimizing risks, are technical means and trainings, sensitizing of employees and processes that help keeping the risks to a minimum. This will stay a long-term task.
Facts
Sales: Florian Hammer
Project management: Frank Knoll
Data Center:
DC IT Safe 56 HU
Redundant rack inverter cooling system 2 x 1,6 - 4,5 kW ∙ 19“-UPS with degassing function
DC IT Monitoring, Type Detection F
19" UPS system with degassing function
Picture: © Bert Folsom / #163141404 / stock.adobe.com (standard licence)
