What are other standards for evaluating data centers other than TIER?

In May 2017, several technology companies - including Hewlett-Packard and LinkedIn - formed an alliance to work on the Open19 project. The main objective of the new organization was to standardize the approach to the purchase of equipment for data centers.

Open19 set out to set a standard form factor for racks and equipment baskets with which you can create solutions for data centers of any size. For this, companies introduced a new specification - the Open19 Platform, designed for nineteen-inch server racks.

The Open19 Foundation developed the first architectural concept of the server cabinet in two versions - 12U and 8U. As conceived by the participants, the cabinet should serve as a universal “block basket” that can be filled with the necessary equipment. The peculiarity of the concept was the architecture - it was thought out taking into account the optimal wiring between the blocks.

UL Reliability Standard

The American company Underwriters Laboratories (UL) certifies a wide variety of objects and products - both windows in buildings and plastics. At the same time, UL specializes in safety standards. Last year, the organization developed a new standard for assessing the reliability of data center infrastructure - UL 3223.

The commission, which arrives at the facility for inspection, draws attention to the design features of the building, the organization of ventilation and water supply, as well as the fire safety system. Additionally, the documentation on commissioning the data center equipment will be checked. At the same time, 10-12 people participate in the assessment of the data center according to UL 3223. 

According to the results of the audit, the data center is not assigned any intermediate levels - it either receives a certificate or not. The requirements of the standard are comparable with the characteristics of a Tier IV data center - for example, all support systems must be duplicated, component repair should not cause system downtime. The emphasis is on the physical protection of data centers and energy efficiency.