Data Center Locations
How a data center works
Power supply
The data center is connected to two separate grid sectors operated by the local utility company. If one sector fails, the second one continues to supply power. The data center also houses 13 diesel generators in a separate building. Together, they produce a total of 29 megawatts.
Cooling
All electronic components and processors generate heat when operated. If it is not dissipated, the processor’s efficiency may decrease to the point that the component could fail. Therefore, cooling a data center is essential – and costly, due to the concentrated computing power.
Controlled access
SAP data centers are the backbone of our cloud business. We use state-of-the-art technology and rigorous security to protect data virtually and physically against data breaches, fires, terror attacks, and other threats. Our data centers meet the highest security standards.
Ironclad data centers
Our customers expect uncompromising information security for their on-premise, cloud, and mobile environments. We work continuously to strengthen and improve security features in all of our software and service offerings, as well as protect our own company and assets.
How we secure our data centers
Interview with our data center expert
Security measures at SAP data centers
Hardware
All virtual and physical servers, SAP HANA databases, storage units, and networks access a pool of physical hardware. If individual components fail, the load can be directly reallocated to other components without impairing system stability. If hardware fails due to a fire, data can be recovered from the backup system.
Fire protection
The data center is subdivided into many fire compartments. Thousands of fire detectors and aspirating smoke detectors (ASD) monitor all rooms and pick up on specific gases that stem from overheating electronic components to set off a preliminary alarm and alert the fire department. Should a fire break out, the affected room is flooded with extinguishing gas and the fire is smothered.
Building
The data center consists of 100,000 metric tons of reinforced concrete and rests on 480 concrete pillars – each extending 16 meters into the ground. The exterior walls are 30 centimeters thick and made of reinforced concrete. The server rooms are further surrounded by three concrete walls. This design provides effective protection against storms and even a small airplane crash.
Data Privacy
SAP ensures compliance with data protection provisions. Data falls under the jurisdiction selected by our customers and is not forwarded to third parties. SAP support services ensure that data protection is also maintained during required maintenance operations.
Back up
Backups are performed in the form of disk-to-disk copies, which enables rapid data creation and recovery. Besides completing full backups on a daily basis, interim versions are created several times a day and archived, like all backups, at a second location for security purposes
Access to data
An intrusion detection system monitors incoming data and identifies suspicious activities, while firewalls made by different manufacturers protect data. Backup files and data are exchanged with customers in an encrypted format or transmitted through secure fiber-optic cables.
How we run our data centers
Zero emissions
Energy efficiency and procurement of green electricity enabled SAP to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions in our data centers globally. Annual reviews have confirmed that SAP data centers are not only better than other comparable data centers, but continue to improve.
Secure operations
Protecting our data centers is of the utmost importance at SAP. At regular intervals, both outside organizations and SAP check whether the technology and infrastructure are operating smoothly. Get an overview of the most important checks.
Certified security
To protect your data and assets, and our own, quality seals and certificates validate that a given data center complies with all necessary security precautions. SAP ensures that the same or equivalent certificates are valid at every data center running cloud solutions.
Diverse options
Whether you choose to operate your own data center, run applicationss on external servers, or lease applications, the increasing diversity of cloud services can be over-whelming. Trust a provider with data center operations as a core area of expertise.
Optimized value
Improved hardware use, simplified interfaces, and uninterrupted operations help data centers run efficiently. Depending on the cloud solution, technologies such as virtualization, multi-tenancy, and adaptive computing play a critical role in providing high-quality cloud services.