Data Center Tiers
Data Center Tiers
Data Center Details
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Tier 1 |
Tier 2 |
Tier 3 |
Tier 4 |
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Criteria Defined
Availability
The percentage of time that a data center is operational and providing services. It is a measure of reliability, with higher availability indicating a more reliable data center.
Downtime Per Year
The maximum allowable time for which a data center can be non-operational or experience disruptions in a given year. It is expressed in hours or minutes and provides an understanding of the expected reliability of the data center.
Typical Company Size
The scale or magnitude of a company in terms of its number of employees, revenue, and overall operational footprint. In the context of data centers, company size can influence the choice of a data center tier based on the organization’s IT infrastructure needs, budget, and business requirements.
Redundancy
The duplication of critical components or functions of a data center infrastructure to increase reliability and ensure continued operation in case of failures. Redundancy is often expressed as “N+1” or “2N+1,” where “N” represents the minimum number of components needed for normal operation.
Concurrently Maintainable
The ability to perform maintenance, repairs, or upgrades on data center components without interrupting the ongoing operation of the facility. In a concurrently maintainable design, one can work on certain parts of the system while the rest continues to function.
Fault Tolerance
The capability of a data center to continue operation and provide services in the event of a hardware or software failure. Fault tolerance involves designing the system to detect and respond to failures without causing a complete system outage.
Single Points of Failure
Components or systems within a data center that, if they fail, could lead to a complete outage or significant disruption of services. Data centers strive to eliminate or minimize single points of failure to enhance overall reliability.
Cooling and Power
The level of redundancy and reliability in the data center’s cooling and power systems. Redundant systems ensure that if one component fails, there is another to take over, preventing disruptions to critical services.
Security
The measures in place to protect the data center infrastructure and its contents from unauthorized access, cyber threats, physical threats, and other security risks. Security can vary from basic measures to enhanced or high-level security protocols based on the data center’s needs and classification.
These criteria are used by the Uptime Institute to classify data centers into different tiers, helping organizations choose a facility that aligns with their specific reliability and availability requirements.