Data Center Tier Classification
What is the data center? When people hear this question, they may imagine the farm of an electronic device. But many people still don’t really know what it is and how it important. Thus, we will get to know what actually a data center is and also the level of the data center.
Definition : A Data Center is a large group of networked computer servers typically used by organizations for the remote storage, processing, or distribution of large amounts of data.
At its simplest, a data center is a physical facility that organizations use to house their critical applications and data. A data center’s design is based on a network of computing and storage resources that enable the delivery of shared applications and data. Datacenter allows us to store much information and share it with other people. It allows communication between data to complete a certain destination. Simply said all of our data include our information on google drive, Facebook information, Instagram, game, and many more are all stored in the data center.
Level of Datacenter
Currently, there are four levels of the data center. The classification levels of data centers represent certification of design. A tier is another way of saying “level of service.”
The 4 tiers of data centers are:
- Tier 1 Data Center
- Tier 2 Data Center
- Tier 3 Data Center
- Tier 4 Data Center
Figure 2 show the performance in each tier level
What is a Tier 1 Data Center?
- No more than 28.8 hours of downtime per annum.
- Zero redundancy. This level of a facility does not have redundancy on any part of its operations.
- 99.671 % uptime per annum.
If you are presumably looking for a cost-effective solution and running a small business, Tier I may be suitable for you. This tier is the most budget-conscious option for a business.
What is a Tier 2 Data Center?
- No more than 22 hours of downtime per annum.
- 99.741 % uptime per annum.
- Partial cooling and multiple power redundancies.
Companies with the web traffic that coincides with a small business are best suited for this tier. Tier II providers are also able to handle more clients compare to Tier I.
What is a Tier III Data Center?
- N+1 (the amount required for operation plus a backup) fault tolerance.
- 72 hours of protection from power outages. This provider must have at least three days of exclusive power. This power cannot connect to any outside source.
- No more than 1.6 hours of downtime per annum. This downtime is allowed for purposes of maintenance and overwhelming emergency issues.
- 99.982 % uptime.
Figure 3 show the architecture of a Tier III data center. Companies using Tier III providers are often growing companies or a business that is larger than the average SMB (Small to Medium Business). Tier III is also less expensive than IV. You may choose this tier due to budget constraints with a plan to expand into a higher level later.
What is a Tier IV Data Center?
- Zero single points of failure. Tier IV providers have redundancies for every process and data protection stream. No single outage or error can shut down the system.
- 99.995 % uptime per annum.
- 2N+1 infrastructure (two times the amount required for operation plus a backup).
- No more than 26.3 minutes of downtime per annum as a maximum figure. Providers must allow for some downtime for optimized mechanical operations; however, this annual downtime does not affect customer-facing operations.
- 96-hour power outage protection. A level IV infrastructure must have at least 96 hours of independent power to qualify at this tier.
Tier IV colocation is also the most expensive choice. Tier IV is considered an enterprise-level service. Companies without international reach and consistently high web traffic do not usually require Tier IV facilities. Tier IV data centers ensure the safety of your business regardless of any mechanical failures. You will have backup systems for cooling, power, data storage, and network links. Full fault tolerance keeps any problems from ever slowing down your business.
References
[1] Bojana Dobran May 2, 2018, Data Center Tier Classification Levels Explained(Tier 1,2,3,4) phoenixNAP, viewed December 18, 2020,<https://phoenixnap.com/blog/data-center-tiers-classification>
[2] cisco n.d. What Is Data Center, viewed December 18, 2020,
<https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/data-center-virtualization/what-is-a-data-center.html>
