ISO 27001 Control 8.14: Redundancy of Information Processing Facilities
Control 8.14 requires organizations to design information processing systems with built-in redundancy to prevent single points of failure. For SMBs managing critical data and services, this means implementing failover mechanisms and redundant network infrastructure to maintain availability during outages. Meeting this control demonstrates your commitment to business continuity and customer trust.
What this means
Redundancy of Information Processing Facilities means your organization must architect IT systems so that critical services remain available even when components fail. This includes deploying redundant servers, failover capabilities that automatically switch to backup systems, and multiple network paths so data can flow through alternative routes if a primary connection goes down. The level of redundancy required depends on your business's availability requirements—higher availability demands more robust redundancy investment.
How to comply
- 1.Conduct a business impact analysis to identify critical information processing facilities and define required availability levels (e.g., 99.9% uptime)
- 2.Implement redundant hardware for essential servers, storage systems, and infrastructure components
- 3.Deploy automatic failover mechanisms that detect failures and switch operations to backup systems without manual intervention
- 4.Establish redundant network paths including multiple ISP connections, load balancing, and network segmentation
- 5.Test failover procedures regularly through scheduled drills and disaster recovery exercises
- 6.Document all redundancy configurations, including system diagrams, failover procedures, and recovery time objectives (RTO)
- 7.Monitor redundant systems continuously to ensure failover capabilities remain functional
- 8.Maintain inventory of redundant components and spare capacity for critical systems
Evidence auditors look for
- System architecture diagrams showing redundant servers, storage arrays, and network connections
- Failover configuration documentation with automatic switchover procedures and timelines
- Network topology diagrams illustrating multiple ISP connections and redundant data paths
- Load balancer and failover appliance configurations
- Business continuity and disaster recovery plans referencing redundancy strategies
- Failover test results and execution logs from the past 12 months
- Monitoring dashboards tracking redundant system status and failover readiness
- Capacity planning reports documenting spare resources reserved for redundancy
- Change logs showing redundant component maintenance and updates
Frequently asked questions
When will FAQs be available?
The FAQ for this control is currently being prepared.
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