Written by Jawad Jafri, Cyber Security and Privacy Officer (CSPO), Huawei South Africa.

Huawei Cloud has established comprehensive physical security and environmental safety protection measures, strategies, and procedures that comply with Class A standard of GB 50174 Code for Design of Electronic Information System Room and T3+ standard of TIA-942 Telecommunications Infrastructure Standard for Data Centers.

Huawei Cloud data centers are located on suitable physical sites, as determined from solid site surveys. During the design, construction, and operation stages, the data centers have proper physical zoning and well-organised placement of information systems and components, which helps prevent potential physical and environmental risk scenarios (for example, fire or electro-magnetic leakage) as well as unauthorised access.

Furthermore, sufficient data center space and adequate electrical, networking, and cooling capacities are reserved in order to meet not only today’s infrastructure requirements but also the demands of tomorrow’s rapid infrastructure expansion.

The Huawei Cloud O&M team enforces stringent access control, safety measures, regular monitoring and auditing, and emergency response measures to ensure the physical security and environmental safety of Huawei Cloud data centers.

Physical Security

• Data Center Site Selection: When choosing a location for a Huawei Cloud data center, Huawei Cloud factors in the risks of potential natural disasters and environmental threats, making sure to always avoid hazardous and disaster-prone regions and minimize the potential operational interruption by the surrounding environment of a Huawei Cloud data center. For example, Huawei Cloud data centers are always located in areas where there are no potentially hazard-causing laboratories, chemical plants, or other hazardous zones within 400 meters. Site selection also ensures the availability and redundancy of supporting utilities for data center operations, such as power, water, and telecommunication circuits.

• Physical access control: Huawei Cloud enforces stringent data center access control for both personnel and equipment. Security guards, stationed 24/7 at every entrance to each Huawei Cloud data center site as well as at the entrance of each building on site, are responsible for registering and monitoring visitors and staff, managing their access scope on an as-needed basis.

Different security strategies are applied to the physical access control systems at different zones of the data center site for optimal physical security. Security guards strictly review and regularly audit user access privileges. Important physical components of a data center are stored in designated safes with crypto-based electronic access code protection in the data center storage warehouses. Only authorized personnel can access and operate the safes.

Work orders must be filled out before any physical components within the data center can be carried out of the data center. Personnel removing any data center components must be registered in the warehouse management system (WMS). Designated personnel perform periodic inventories on all physical equipment and warehouse materials. Data center administrators not only perform routine safety checks but also audit data center visitor logs on an as-needed basis to ensure that unauthorised personnel have no access to data centers.

• Safety measures: Huawei Cloud data centers employ industry standard data center physical security technologies to monitor and eliminate physical hazards and physical security concerns. CCTV monitoring is enabled 24/7 for data centers’ physical perimeters, entrances, exits, hallways, elevators, and computer cage areas.

CCTV is also integrated with infrared sensors and physical access control systems. Security guards routinely patrol data centers and set up online electronic patrol systems such that unauthorised access and other physical security incidents promptly trigger sound and light alarms.

Environmental Safety

• Electrical safety: Huawei Cloud data centers employ a multi-level safety assurance solution to ensure 24/7 service availability and continuity. Daily electricity consumption at data centers relies on dual power supply from different power substations.

Data centers are equipped with diesel generators, which are run in the event of power outage, and also Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS), which provides temporary power as a backup. Data center power lines have voltage regulator and overvoltage protection. Power supply equipment is configured with redundancy and power lines run in parallel to ensure power supply to data center computer systems.

• Temperature and humidity control: Huawei Cloud data centers are fitted with high precision air conditioning and automatic adjustment of centralized humidifiers to ensure that computer systems operate optimally within their specified ranges of temperature and humidity.

Hot and cold air channels for computer cabinets are properly designed and positioned. Cold air channels are sealed to prevent isolated hot spots. The space beneath the raised floor is used as a static pressure box to supply air to computer cabinets.

 • Fire control: Huawei Cloud data centers comply with Level-1 design and use Class-A fireproof materials for their construction in compliance with country-specific fire control regulations. Flame retardant and fire-resistant cables are used in pipelines and troughs, alongside power leakage detection devices.

Automatic fire alarm and fire extinguishing systems are deployed to quickly and accurately detect and report fires. Automatic alarm system links with power supply, monitoring, and ventilation systems such that the fire extinguishing system can activate itself even when unattended, autonomously keeping fires under control.

• Routine monitoring: Huawei Cloud personnel conduct daily patrols and routine inspections of power, temperature, humidity, and fire controls in all data centers, which allows for the timely discovery of safety hazards and ensures smooth operation of all data center equipment.

• Water supply and drainage: The water supply and drainage system at each Huawei Cloud data center is designed, implemented, and operated to an exacting standard, ensuring that main valves function as per specification and key personnel are aware of valve locations.

This prevents water damage to the data center equipment, especially computer information systems. Data center buildings reside on elevated ground with peripheral green drains and each floor is raised, which speeds up water drainage and reduces the risk of flooding.

Data center buildings all meet Level-1 water resistance requirements, ensuring that rainwater does not seep through roofs and walls into the data center, and that there is proper drainage in case of a flood.

• Anti-static control: Huawei Cloud data centers are paved with anti-static flooring materials and have wires connect raised floor brackets to grounding networks, discharging static electricity from computer equipment. Data center roofs are fitted with lightning belts, and power lines are fitted with multiple-level lighting arresters, diverting the current safely to grounding networks.