State Requests Relocation of Health Agency Backup Data
The Department of Health Services has asked a contractor to relocate backup data because of concerns about the storage facility's risk of sustaining damage in a flood, DHS spokesperson Patti Roberts told the Sacramento Bee on Monday. The Bee raised the issue with DHS and other government agencies and private entities as part of an investigation into data storage facilities located in a flood plain near Natomas.
Most state agencies maintain full sets of backup data onsite, with the Department of Technology Services, and offsite with a private firm.
DHS contracts with Recall, a data security firm with headquarters near Atlanta. Iron Mountain, a data security firm based in Boston, also operates a data storage facility near Natomas. A review of recent flood maps indicated that the Recall facility could experience flood depths of eight to 12 feet, while Iron Mountain's facility could face flood depths of as much as five feet.
Sutter Health contracts with Iron Mountain for data storage services. Mark Heringer, Sutter Health's vice president for information technology operations, said Sutter will review their storage agreement with Iron Mountain.
The Department of Technology Services, which consolidated the Health and Human Services Data Center and the Stephen P. Teale Data Center when it was formed last year, is seeking bids for a contract for all of the state's data storage services. The bid requirements have been amended to state that storage facilities should be located outside of a 500-year flood plain, a change that could make it more difficult for Recall or Iron Mountain to win the contract, according to the Bee.
Officials for Recall and Iron Mountain said that they would review flood information about their properties and that they were confident that the facilities would be able to protect data in a disaster (Kollars, Sacramento Bee, 5/17).