The Uptime Institute rates data centers around the world to earn a specific Tier level certification. These certifications range from Tier l to Tier lV. The ranking or standard is based on a variety of factors, including performance, uptime, redundancies, power outage protection, and several other factors.
For most businesses, a Tier 3 data center is the correct choice. This offers a cost-effective option with levels of uptime and redundancies that are more than adequate for most businesses. Choosing the Tier 3 data center offers several critical advantages to any business, including the following benefits:
- Uptime and downtime – the uptime of these facilities is at least 99.982%. This translates to yearly downtime of less than 1.6 hours. In comparison, a Tier ll data center can have downtime of up to 22.7 hours per year.
- Redundancy – the Tier 3 data center offers full redundancy or N+1 levels. This means that critical systems have at least one alternative system in the event the main system fails. This is often called comprehensive redundancy
- Power outage protection – for protection of equipment, both power and cooling, Tier 3 facilities must have backup systems that operate for 72 hours. Tier l and Tier 2 facilities do not have these types of redundancies and offer one path for power.
- Planned maintenance without a full shutdown – with the N+1 redundancy, these data centers can complete scheduled maintenance without shutdown, which is why uptime can be maximized and downtime minimized.
- On-site support – these facilities offer one full shift plus for ongoing on-site services. This includes engineers and technicians to monitor and address hardware and networking issues if they occur.
Choosing a Tier 3 data center is the best option for any business with a significant online presence or computing needs. While there are cheaper options, they also offer increased risks and potential challenges for the business.
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