Measuring Sustainability: Certification Value, Part 1Measuring Sustainability: Certification Value, Part 1

Whether you are using a cloud service or operating your own data center, sustainability is paramount.

Operations architectures ranging from non-redundant to fully redundant are possible by following proper data center infrastructure configuration. The least redundant configuration delivers the lowest reliability, while the fully redundant configuration is the most expensive to implement and operate. Whether you are using a cloud service or operating your own data center, sustainability is paramount.

Depending on the data center for business operations begs the questions, "How reliable is the internal data center? How do I evaluate cloud services, whether the services are IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service), PaaS (Platform as a Service), or SaaS (Software as a Service)? What does data center certification mean? How is it performed? Who is the best source for independent certification?" This and a second blog, "Measuring Sustainability: The Certification Process, Part 2" (to follow tomorrow) will provide answers to these questions.

In my previous blog, "How Real is Cloud Data Center Sustainability?" I noted that, "Terms have been used too often as generic, without formal certification. As a result, you may find the cloud service you use is less reliable than advertised."

When I wrote the previous blog, I became very interested in the data center certification process as performed by the Uptime Institute. I recently had the opportunity to interview Clinton Gage, Global Marketing Director at the Uptime Institute. Here is the first part of our exchange:

Clinton, what is the Uptime Institute?
The Uptime Institute is an independent third-party data center research, education, and consulting organization focused on improving data center performance and efficiency through collaboration and innovation. The Uptime Institute serves the data center industry, including enterprise and third-party operation, manufacturers, providers, and engineers.

Would you describe the Tier Classification System developed by the Uptime Institute?
The Uptime Institute created the standard Tier Classification System as a means to effectively evaluate data center infrastructure in terms of business requirements for system availability. The Tier Classification System provides the data center industry with a consistent method to compare typically unique, customized facilities based on expected site infrastructure performance, or uptime. Classifications range from the least robust at Tier I to the most robust at Tier IV.

The Tier Classification System had been developed in the 1990s, but it was not until the 2000s that the industry requested an unbiased certification directly from Uptime Institute. Many of the first certification clients had a need for Tier III and IV performance levels. The certification provided that proof that the investment was protected and the data center could perform to the requisite levels.

What does an Uptime Institute certification mean?
Uptime Institute is the only worldwide organization that certifies data center designs, facilities, and operations to the Tier Standard: Topology (Tier I-IV) and Tier Standard: Operational Sustainability criteria. Tier Certification is a third-party validation of the Tier level, that benefits both enterprise and third-party (co-location) data centers. Tier Certifications have been awarded worldwide to corporations across all industries, governments, and universities.

Why is this certification important to the enterprise?
Uptime Institute Tier Certification is unique in the industry in its rigor and comprehensiveness, differing from a number of other compliance assessments that rely on a sampling or representative analysis. Tier Certification provides an analysis of each and every system, down to the level of valve positions and panel feeds.

Tier Certification recognizes organizational accomplishment. It evaluates whether the data center capital investment will yield sustained uptime to support the business. Weakness in the data center infrastructure translates to lost capital investment.

Would you relate certification to cloud services?
Tier Certification recognizes industry achievement. It is a competitive differentiator from self-certifications that are often misleading. Tier Certifications elevate a data center to a preeminent and highly visible position in the industry. Tier Certification satisfies the need for a due diligence assessment, thereby raising client confidence and reducing the duration and cost of the contracting process.

As a cloud buyer evaluates options, it is important to keep in mind that, for the cloud, "there is a data center somewhere." Well publicized cloud outages have been linked to infrastructure issues such as breaker settings and engine generator controls. Uptime Institute sees cloud service providers as one of the fastest growing adopters of Tier Certification to eliminate any doubts about the robustness of their underlying infrastructure.

Would you contrast Tiers I and II of Certification?
The Tiers are progressive. Each Tier incorporates the requirements of all the lower Tiers. The Tiers have been demonstrated as a meaningful industry standard because Tier Classifications support a variety of solutions. This allows the flexibility to meet both the performance goals and comply with local statutes, codes, and regulations.

Tier I and Tier II are tactical solutions, usually driven by first-cost and time-to-market more so than life-cycle cost and performance (uptime) requirements. Organizations selecting Tier I and Tier II solutions typically do not depend on real-time delivery of products or services for a significant part of their revenue stream. Generally, these organizations are contractually protected from damages stemming from lack of system availability.

Tier I solutions, basic capacity, meet the data center owner's or operator's desire for dedicated site infrastructure to support information technology (IT) systems. Tier I infrastructure provides an improved environment compared to an office setting and 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.

Examples of industries that will benefit from a Tier I facility are real estate agencies, the hospitality industry, and business services such as lawyers, accountants, etc.

Tier II facility infrastructure solutions include redundant critical power and cooling components to provide an increased margin of safety against IT process disruptions that would result from site infrastructure equipment failures. The redundant components are typically power and cooling equipment such as extra UPS modules, chillers or pumps, and engine generators. This type of equipment can experience failures due to manufacturing defects, installation or operation errors, or, over time, worn-out equipment.

Examples of industries that select Tier II infrastructure include institutional and educational organizations because there is no meaningful, tangible impact of disruption due to data center failure.

Would you contrast Tiers III and IV of Certification?
Tier III site infrastructure adds the capability of Concurrent Maintenance. As a result, 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 IT operations.

Organizations selecting Tier III infrastructure typically have high-availability requirements for ongoing business or have identified a significant cost of disruption due to a planned data center shutdown. Such organizations often support internal and external clients 24 x Forever, such as product service centers and help desks.

Tier IV site infrastructure builds on Tier III, adding the concept of Fault Tolerance to the site infrastructure topology. Fault Tolerance means that if/when individual equipment failures or distribution path interruptions occur, the effects of the events are stopped short of the IT operations.

Organizations that have high-availability requirements for ongoing business (or mission imperatives), or that experience a profound impact of disruption due to any data center shutdown, select Tier IV site infrastructure. Tier IV is justified most often for organizations with an international market presence delivering 24xForever services in a highly competitive or regulated client-facing market space, such as electronic market transactions or financial settlement processes.