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Putin orders private data centres to set aside 10% of capacity to support IT infrastructure

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

The emergency measures grant Russian authorities rapid access to private computing power whenever national IT systems face disruption. The Digital Development Ministry has been directed to inventory floor space and server loads across all privately held facilities nationwide. Once a newly formed government commission demands the reserved capacity, commercial operators are legally obligated to hand over access within 24 hours. The decree further allows the state to utilize foreign-based data centres temporarily, provided the FSB grants explicit security approval.

Key points

  • Private operators face a mandate to forfeit commercial control over a tenth of their reso…: Private operators face a mandate to forfeit commercial control over a tenth of their resources on short notice.
  • A specialized government commission will oversee the mobilization of commercial server sp…: A specialized government commission will oversee the mobilization of commercial server space for national infrastructure needs.
  • Foreign data facilities may be utilized by Russia only after receiving formal clearance f…: Foreign data facilities may be utilized by Russia only after receiving formal clearance from the FSB security service.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Nov 2 : Russian owners of non-state data centres will be required to reserve 10 per cent of their capacity to help keep Russia's IT infrastructure running, according to a decree signed by President Vladimir Putin on Monday.

This mechanism would allow Russian authorities to quickly access available data centre capacity if needed.

Russian data centres have become targets of Ukrainian drone attacks in recent weeks, with facilities operated by technology companies Yandex and Sberbank struck in October.

Putin instructed the Digital Development Ministry to conduct an inventory of available capacity and floor space at privately owned data centres across Russia.

A special government commission, to be established under the decree, will be empowered to order the release of the reserved capacity, with operators required to provide access within 24 hours of such a decision.

The decree also allows for the temporary use of data centres located abroad, subject to approval by the FSB security service.

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