Explaining the Uptime Institute’s Tier

Classification System
in Executive

An abbreviated version of this column was written for Data

Center Knowledge [http://www.datacenterknowledge.com] in
response to an interview with AFCOM Denver Chapter President
Hector Diaz, on September 11, 2014.

Uptime Institute’s Tier Classification System for data centers is

approaching the two decade mark. Since its creation in the mid-
1990s, the system has evolved from a shared industry
terminology into the global standard for third-party validation
of data center critical infrastructure.

Over the years, some industry pundits have expressed

frustration with the Tier System for being confusing. In many
cases these writers have misrepresented the purpose and
purview of the program.

Invariably, these authors and interview subjects have never

been involved with a Tier Certification project. Typically, the
commentator’s understanding of the Tiers is entirely
secondhand and ten years out of date.

Anyone in the industry who knew our late founder Ken Brill
knows the Institute doesn’t shy away from rigorous debate. And
we happily engage in substantive discussions about the Tiers
program with clients and interested parties. Unfortunately,
many of the public commentators vaguely naysaying about the
Tiers are so grossly uninformed that debate isn’t possible.

And yet, when a commentator manages “1 million square feet

of data center space for a large multinational enterprise” and
represents a respected organization like AFCOM
[http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2014/09/11/future-
data-center-trends/] , we feel the need to respond.

I would like to take this opportunity to explain what the Tiers

look like today, illustrate how Tier Certification works, list some
companies that have invested in Tier Certification and offer
Uptime Institute’s vision for the future.

What are the Tiers?

Uptime Institute created the standard Tier Classification System
to consistently evaluate various data center facilities in terms of
potential site infrastructure performance, or uptime. The below
is a summary and please see Tier Standard: Topology and
accompanying Accredited Tier Designer Technical Papers.

The Tiers (I-IV) are progressive; each Tier incorporates the

requirements of all the lower Tiers.

Tier I: Basic Capacity A Tier I data center provides dedicated

site infrastructure to support information technology beyond
an office setting. Tier I infrastructure includes a dedicated space
for IT systems; an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) to filter
power spikes, sags, and momentary outages; dedicated cooling
equipment that won’t get shut down at the end of normal office
hours; and an engine generator to protect IT functions from
extended power outages.

Tier II: Redundant Capacity Components Tier II facilities

include redundant critical power and cooling components to
provide select maintenance opportunities and an increased
margin of safety against IT process disruptions that would
result from site infrastructure equipment failures. The
redundant components include power and cooling equipment
such as UPS modules, chillers or pumps, and engine
generators.

Tier III: Concurrently Maintainable A Tier III data center

requires no shutdowns for equipment replacement and
maintenance. A redundant delivery path for power and cooling
is added to the redundant critical components of Tier II so that
each and every component needed to support the IT processing
environment can be shut down and maintained without impact
on the IT operation.
Tier IV: Fault Tolerance Tier IV site infrastructure builds on Tier
III, adding the concept of Fault Tolerance to the site
infrastructure topology. Fault Tolerance means that when
individual equipment failures or distribution path interruptions
occur, the effects of the events are stopped short of the IT
operations.

Data center infrastructure costs and operational complexities

increase with Tier Level, and it is up to the data center owner to
determine the Tier Level that fits his or her business’s need. A
Tier IV solution is not “better” than a Tier II solution. The data
center infrastructure needs to match the business application,
otherwise companies can overinvest or take on too much risk.

Uptime Institute recognizes that many data center designs are

custom endeavors, with complex design elements and multiple
technology choices. As such, the Tier Classification System does
not prescribe specific technology or design criteria beyond
those stated above. It is up to the data center owner to meet
those criteria in a method that fits his or her infrastructure
goals.

Uptime Institute removed reference to “expected downtime per

year” from the Tier Standard in 2009. The current Tier Standard
does not assign availability predictions to Tier Levels. This
change was due to a maturation of the industry, and
understanding that operations behaviors can have a larger
impact on site availability than the physical infrastructure.

If the Tier Classification system still seems unclear at this point,

please take a deep breath and re-read the section above. If
you’re not feeling too confused, let’s move on…

Tier Certification
Now that we have a clear understanding of the Tier Standard,
let’s discuss Certification.

The Tier Certification process typically starts with a company

deploying new data center capacity. The data center owner
defines a need to achieve a specific Tier Level to match a
business demand.

Data center owners turn to Uptime Institute for an unbiased,

vendor neutral benchmarking system, to ensure that data
center designers, contractors and service providers are
delivering against their requirements and expectations.

Tier Certification is a performance based evaluation of a data

center’s specific infrastructure, and not a checklist or cookbook.
Uptime Institute is the only organization permitted to Certify
data centers against the Tier Classification System. Uptime
Institute does not design, build or operate data centers. Our
only role is to evaluate site infrastructure, operations and
strategy.

The first step in a Tier Certification process is a Tier Certification

of Design Documents (TCDD). Uptime Institute Consultants
review 100% of the design documents, ensuring each
subsystem among electrical, mechanical, monitoring, and
automation meet the fundamental concepts and there are no
weak links in the chain. Uptime Institute then provides a report
to the owner with the Tier deficiencies. Uptime Institute
conducts a compliance review of the revised drawings, and then
awards a TCDD letter and foil if the design meets the criteria.

Uptime Institute has conducted over 400 TCDDs, reviewing the

most sophisticated data center designs from around the world.
As you might imagine, we’ve learned a few things from that
process. One of the lessons is that some companies would
achieve a TCDD, and walk away from following through on
Facility Certification for any number of reasons. Some
organizations were willfully misrepresenting the Tier
Certification, using a design foil to market a site that was not
physically tested to that standard.

The TCDD was never supposed to be a final stage in a

certification process, but rather a checkpoint for companies to
demonstrate that the first portion of the capital project met
requirements. Uptime Institute found that stranded Design
Certifications were detrimental to the integrity of the Tier
Certification program. In response, Uptime Institute has
implemented an expiration date on TCDDs. All Tier Certification
of Design Documents awards issued after 1 January 2014 will
expire two years after the award date.

Data center owners use the Tier Certification process to hold

the project teams accountable, and to ensure that the site
performs as it was designed. Which brings us to the next phase
in a Tier Certification process: Tier Certification of Constructed
Facility (TCCF).

During a TCCF, a team of Uptime Institute consultants conducts

a site visit, identifying discrepancies between the design
drawings and installed equipment. Our consultants observe
tests and demonstrations to prove Tier compliance.
Fundamentally, this is the value of the Tier Certification, finding
these blind spots and weak points in the chain. When the data
center owner addresses the deficiencies, Uptime Institute
awards the TCCF letter, foil and plaque.

Tier Certification Clients

Does the industry find value in this process? The clearest proof
is the list of companies investing in Tier Certification. It is easy
to claim Tier compliance and a wholly different matter to lay
your solution open to a rigorous review by Uptime Institute.
There are more Certifications underway at this moment than at
any other point in the 20-year history of the Tiers.

Look at adoption among the telecommunications companies,

colocation providers and data center developers: Digital Realty,
Compass Data Centers, CenturyLink, and Switch. We have been
pleased to impress each and every one of those companies
with our dedication to quality and thoroughness, because we
understand all that is on the line for them and their clients.

As the IT industry moves further into the cloud and IaaS mode
of IT service delivery, the end user has less control over the data
center infrastructure than ever before. Tiers and Operational
Sustainability provide third-party assurance, on a
comprehensive level, that the underlying data center
infrastructure is designed and operated to the customer’s
performance requirements.

Increasingly, enterprise companies are stipulating Tier

Certification in RFPs to data center service providers. If you
want to be competitive, unsubstantiated marketing claims are
not sufficient.

Here is the full list of Tier Certification awards

[http://uptimeinstitute.com/TierCertification/allCertifications.php?
page=1&ipp=All] .

Beyond Tiers: Operations

As mentioned previously, Uptime Institute recognizes the huge
role operations plays in keeping data center services available.
To that end, Uptime Institute developed a data center facilities
management guideline in 2010 (Tier Standard: Operational
Sustainability) and certifies data center operations. This is a site-
specific scorecard and benchmarking of a facilities
management team’s processes, with an on-site visit and
detailed report.

For companies with existing sites, or for whatever reason have

not chosen to certify data center facilities against Tiers, the
operations team can be certified under the Management &
Operations (M&O) Stamp of Approval.

For the purposes of an M&O Stamp of Approval, the client and

Uptime Institute work together to assess the selected site(s)
against the M&O criteria. The criteria was drawn from Uptime
Institute’s Tier Standard: Operational Sustainability, and then
was vetted through a Coalition composed of key stakeholders in
the enterprise owner, outsourced operations, and multi-tenant
industry segments. This was to verify M&O’s compatibility with
a variety of management solutions and across multiple
computing environments.

The key areas reviewed, observed, and validated include:

-Staffing and Organization (on-staffing levels, qualifications, and

skill mix)
-Training and Professional Development Assessment
-Preventative Maintenance Program and Processes
-Operating Conditions and Housekeeping
-Planning, Management, and Coordination practices and
resources.

Please refer to Tier Standard: Operational Sustainability for full

criteria.

By covering these essential areas, a management team can

operate a site to its full uptime potential, obtain maximum
leverage of the installed infrastructure/design and improve the
efficacy of operations,.

The Path Forward?

In addition to the certifications listed above, Uptime Institute is
delivering and developing further services for the IT industry
around corporate governance and IT resource efficiency. As we
bring those services to market, we will commit to being more
present in the public forum.

With further education in the market, we hope to engage in

substantive debates about our processes and approach, rather
than defending claims from individuals with incorrect or
incomplete knowledge of the Tiers program.
Fundamentally, it is our responsibility to better explain our
approach and intellectual property. We owe it to our hundreds
of clients who have invested in Tiers Certification.

Bio: Matt Stansberry has researched the convergence of

technology, facility management and energy issues in the data
center for over a decade. Since January 2011, he is Director of
Content and Publications at Uptime Institute.

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