Shell and Core
Today, most operators and data center owner adopt a scale-able approach for data center design/build the construction of the facility (shell, core and MEP infrastructure) to be delivered in increments of as many KW as needed and planned approach allows to scale upward in proportion to the end user demand.
Data Center Design
Data Center Design and Implementation should conform to Best Practices and industry standards. These standard covers the major aspects of planning, design, construction, and commissioning of the MEP building trades, as well as fire protection, IT, and maintenance.
Operational Standards
There are also many operational standards to choose from. These are standards that guide your day-to-day processes and procedures once the data center is built:
The Big Three
The three major data center design and infrastructure standards developed for the industry are:
Uptime Institute
This standard develops a performance-based methodology for the data center during the design, construction, and commissioning phases to determine the resiliency of the facility with respect to four Tiers or levels of redundancy/reliability. The Tiers are compared in the table below and can be found in greater definition in UI’s white paper TUI3026E. The origins of the Uptime Institute as a data center users group established it as the first group to measure and compare a data center’s reliability.
ANSI/BICSI 002-2014
Data Center Design and Implementation Best Practices: This standard covers the major aspects of planning, design, construction, and commissioning of the MEP building trades, as well as fire protection, IT, and maintenance. It is arranged as a guide for data center design, construction, and operation. Ratings/Reliability is defined by Class 0 to 4 and certified by BICSI-trained and certified professionals.
TIA 942
Telecommunication Infrastructure Standard for Data Centers: This standard is more IT cable and network oriented and has various infrastructure redundancy and reliability concepts based on the Uptime Institute’s Tier Standard. In 2013, UI requested that TIA stop using the Tier system to describe reliability levels, and TIA switched to using the word “Rated” in lieu of “Tiers,” defined as Rated 1-4.