'Houston, we have a problem.'

That famous phrase echoed from the Moon to Mission Control during the Apollo 13 mission and while that story had a happy ending, NASA is currently looking to prevent future problems at their Goddard Space Center.

Request for information
A recent report in ZDNet showed that the Space Center is looking to revamp its data center operations systems and has gone into the public realm for assistance. The Center has chosen three different solutions that encompass the short and long-term as well as an interim transitional process. The Center is looking to retrofit the center in a way that will maximize the Return of Investment  in interim and short-term processes. The Center is also considering temporary stand-alone and modular containerized solutions, as well.

Biometric technology as a solution
According to a FCW report, NASA must respond to a federal mandate to consolidate its buildings. Also, 30 percent of any new construction must use less energy for its core functions, under that directive. Goddard is trying to decide whether to replace their existing data centers or retro-fit them with energy-saving equipment and technology. 

While NASA looks at re-tooling the Space Center's systems  employees check the advances in data center security and the options are many. The general reasoning behind the Goddard information request is that the Center wants to have the data operations be more energy efficient. By using biometric access control the Space Center could effectively limit incursions with fingerprint readers and automate other energy drains on the security system.

According to a Time-America report, the use of biometric technology can save companies money. Fingerprint scanning eliminates buddy-punching at the time clock or passbacks through the data center entry way. The need for keys and passwords is also removed and fingerprint verification allows employers to know where every worker is at any given time during a shift. With biometrics, the possibility of theft or breaching the data center or server cabinets is drastically reduced or eliminated entirely.

While NASA continues its search for the right combination of disciplines for its data centers or whether the build a new one, it will be more energy efficient as per the federal edict but, if they use biometric technology as their security base, Goddard Space Center will be a cutting-edge data center that the federal government can point to with pride as a model of efficiency and security. 

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