Hurricane Sandy got me thinking about how knowledge gained in the nuclear industry can be applied to improve the robustness of data center back up power. 

 In contrast to 100 years ago, an important measure of a company’s worth is now in megabytes; this "worth" is housed in data centers. Thus, an uninterrupted power supply for a company’s data center is THE critical component for doing business in the world today.

A lot of progress has been made in improving the uptime for data center power, but as seen this past week, there is room for improvement. 

In addition to tragic loss of life, Hurricane Sandy exposed weaknesses in the power supply to these data centers across the board. From clothing companies to financial services businesses, none appear to have come through unscathed from this event, even those with well-rehearsed continuity plans. Click here to see data center damages. 

It’s pretty well-known that the Fukushima event of 2011 made the nuclear industry -- an industry that stakes its reputation on safety, reliability and protecting the public -- take a hard look at itself. 

Since Fukushima, the nuclear industry has focused rigorously on cataloging knowledge gained -- what the industry is calling “lessons learned” -- to better protect back up power supply and ensure the Fukushima scenario will not play out elsewhere.

The nuclear industry also has a head start in this having started to "bunkerize" its power supply as far back as 9-11 to protect against terrorist attacks. 

Lessons learned from these events have contributed to a program developed to implement the Fukushima task force recommendations, a program called the FLEX Protection Strategy. So my thought is, why not take a page from the FLEX playbook and apply these tools to data center back up power -- with better ways to keep business' data centers up and running when terrible events such at Hurricane Sandy hit.

The basics of FLEX include:

PREPARE YOUR PEOPLE: Rehearse and review emergency plans on a regular basis. Provide satellite communication systems for workers. Expanded your maintenance and testing of equipment.

MULTIPLE LAYERS: Protect fuel supply for back up generators. Generator positioning should be above flood levels.

REGIONAL CENTERS: Use regional centers to provide additional emergency equipment in off site support centers to provide another layer of safety and ensure prolonged reliable operation. 

There's more good information in the details. Click here for the FLEX protection strategy, click here. 

Nuclear plants in Hurricane Sandy’s path came through well as a result of these new procedures showing us that the nuclear industry is a great resource for those charged with preserving and protecting our power.