BLOG Why use a Rated 3 data centre Feb 20, 2019 STT GDC SHARE Link copied! Why Use a Rated 3 Data Centre for Your Enterprise? In today’s time, the availability of IT systems is crucial for business continuity. The ever-changing needs of business infrastructure are leading companies to step ahead and use Data Centres that meet their IT requirements. Whether an enterprise is moving from its traditional past to a digital future, or they need to store customer-sensitive Data – a Data Centre is a key cog in their operations. Data Centres house the IT environments and irrespective of the enterprise’s use-case; choosing a Data Centre is never a trivial task. The choice of the Data Centre is important from several standpoints. Signing a contract before thoroughly analyzing the need causes not only financial damage but also the reputation of the enterprise. Therefore, it is necessary that all resources such as cooling, UPS systems, emergency power, and others, are perfectly aligned. Data Centre ratings and accreditations are standards on which their performance is graded, and therefore, these ratings help choose the right Data Centre for operations. Data Center Ratings Data centres are a secure facility with space, power, network, and a valuable extension to businesses around the world. However, not all Data Centres are equal, and they are segregated as per the percentage availability they can guarantee. They are classified basis a certificate of design, where ratings are another way of saying the ‘level of service.’ The ratings showcase the performance of a Data Centre, which is rated based on several parameters. TIA-942 Standard TIA-942 is the most widely used standard to design Data Centres. The association provides requirements for the design of Data Centre telecommunications infrastructure. Basis the design, the ratings are provided on parameters including telecommunications infrastructure, architecture, security, electrical, and mechanical. The following comprises TIA-942: Cabling Scheme Topology Types of Cabling Cable Lengths Telecommunication Pathways Cable System Distributors Access Providers Energy Efficiency Considerations Site Selection Considerations TIA-942 describes Data Centres with four levels of ratings, ranging from Rated 1 to Rated 4. The rating showcase uptime and resource availability, and both parameters increase chronologically with the rating. The latest from TIA is the TIA-942-B data center standard which was released in 2017. Rated 3 Data Center – Concurrently Maintained Site Infrastructure TIA-942-B Rated 3 data centres offer high uptime and resource availability in the facility. Data centres with Rated 3 certification have redundant capacity components with multiple distribution paths serving the computer equipment. Typically, only one distribution path is active at any time. Rated 3 Data Centres are also known as ‘Concurrently Maintained Site Infrastructure’ as per the industry nomenclature. They are concurrently maintainable (N+1) and every capacity component and elements that are a part of the distribution path can be removed, replaced, and serviced on a planned basis. Data Centres with Rated 3 certifications can do this without disrupting the ICT capabilities to the end-user. Since only one distribution path serves computer equipment, it protects most of the physical events. These Data Centres also address the vulnerability of a single access provider. So, a Rated 3 Data Centre protects the majority of faults, failures, and outages by making all critical components concurrently maintainable. N+1, also known as parallel redundancy, is a UPS topology that provides uninterrupted power supply system keeping sure the servers run at all times, as a safeguarding measure. What Does it Mean for Enterprises? Rated 1 and 2 Data Centres are only sufficient for businesses that can tolerate occasional downtime after regular business hours or on weekends. Rated 3 Data Centres are best suited for enterprises who work with sensitive data and require a secure hosting facility. Enterprises with high-priority operations where even a slight disturbance of power may result in financial losses are best safeguarded with a Rated 3 Data Centre. For example, a healthcare facility needs at least Rated 3 Data Centre’s uptime to carry out operations because unavailability of systems can cause lives. High Availability Uptime of 99.982% with only 1.6 hours of downtime a year Modularity and Flexibility Pre-engineered and standardized infrastructures for easy configuration Uninterrupted Power Supply N+1 redundancy with minimum 72-hour power outage protection Comprehensive Security High level of restriction on physical access with identity-access based controls The Need for Due Diligence Before buying space in a colocation facility, enterprises need to vet all prospective sites to check if they meet specific requirements. Technical due diligence concerning itself with the investigation of physical infrastructure. It includes the cooling infrastructure, building fabric, power systems, and security. Enterprises must assess existing asset conditions, equipment age, one-line diagrams, building management systems, potential points of failure, CAPEX/OPEX, and rating and their equivalents. Here’s a checklist corresponding to the features of a Data Centre and why your enterprise must assess them before making a decision. Provider Stability Fault Tolerance Security Capacity and Stability Core Service Standards Location Risk Profile Facility SLAs To make an informed decision before choosing a Data Centre, enterprises need to ask the following questions: What is the maximum downtime permissible by your enterprise? How many employees will not be able to do their job? How many customers will not be helped? How much revenue does your enterprise lose during downtime? What is the cost-benefit analysis for your enterprise? Is availability guaranteed during planned maintenance activities? If yes, how? How is the security and safety inside the Data Centre? What service level agreements does the facility comply to? What is the capacity and stability of the Data Centre facility? Even a few minutes (seconds in some critical cases) of downtime can be adverse for multinational companies, gaming companies, SaaS, MaaS, or even airlines whose businesses run 24/7. Rated 3 Data Centres allow enterprises to operate in an ‘Always Available Environment.’ Hence, for all enterprises with such requirements, Rated 3 Data Centre is optimum. Rated 3 DCs from STT GDC India We at STT GDC India understand the impact of data and its essentiality for businesses to operate 24/7 in today’s economy. Our Data Centres are Rated 3 and Rated 4 by ANSI/TIA-942-B:2017 for architecture, mechanical, electrical, and telecommunication scope. Other than that, our Data Centres are ISO 14001, ISO 20000, ISO 27001, and TL 9000 certified.