One of the main items of business continuity projects is location of second data center. It is quite critical to identify the possible locations for second data centre where risks of main data center can be minimized.

Decision-making criteria for location selection can be listed as follows:

• Natural risks
• Physical risks
• Service supply issues
• Future growth rate
• Current and future neighbours

Taking all above mentioned criteria into consideration, locations of data center should be selected.  Improper location selection may cause critical service interruptions, moral and financial losses for the corporations aiming business continuity. Internationally applicable BICSI standard about data center structuring set out some location selection criteria. These are classified as follows:

1. Areas which must be at least 13 km away

   1. Missile control fields
   2. Military zones
   3. Small airports ( Airports where propeller aircraft can take off/land)

2. Areas which must be at least 8 km away

   1. Large airports
   2. Thermal power plants
   3. Chemical fields
   4. Fertilizing fields
   5. Wheat silos
   6. Petroleum storage areas
   7. Other smoky industrial facilities

3. Areas which must be at least 5 km away

   1. Embassies
   2. Radical political institutions
   3. Research laboratories
   4. Radar stations
   5. Radio/TV transmitter stations

4. Areas which must be at least 3.2 km away

   1. Waste areas
   2. Garbage disposal areas
   3. Scrapyard
   4. Rock quarries
   5. Highways
   6. Railways
   7. Ports/Channels
   8. Lakes
   9. Dams
   10. Water storages
   11. Livestock production areas

5. Areas which must be at least 1.6 km away

   1. Gas stations
   2. Compressed gas distributors
   3. Car repair shops / Painting workshops
   4. High voltage energy distribution grids
   5. Subway stations

In addition to keeping a certain distance from aforesaid fields, other criteria which must be considered are listed below:

• It is beneficial to have a health institution which can provide emergency aid response next to data centers in case of an extraordinary situation.
• There should be a fire station and security unit at least 8 km close to an ideal data center. Similarly, it is important to have a hospital at least 16 km close to the data center.
• Data center located near to railway transportation stations such as subway and train may be exposed to electromagnetic interference, vibration and terrorist attacks due to human crowd.  Terrorist attacks happened in Moscow, Paris, and London subway stations should be kept in mind.
• Future growth rate of the company should be considered while designing the data center.
• The areas simplifying source utilization and source supply should be selected.