Uptime Institute Tier Certification

What it is

The scheme owner's own page (uptimeinstitute.com/tiers) states, verbatim: "Uptime Institute created the data center Tier classification levels over 30 years ago, and today, they remain the international standard for data center performance."

The same page describes Tier I, verbatim: "The basic capacity level with infrastructure to support information technology for an office setting and beyond", built with a UPS, dedicated cooling and a generator.

The same page describes Tier II, verbatim: "redundant capacity components for power and cooling that provide better maintenance opportunities and safety against disruptions."

The same page describes Tier III, verbatim: "Concurrently maintainable with redundant components as a key differentiator, with redundant distribution paths to serve the critical environment."

The same page describes Tier IV, verbatim: "several independent and physically isolated systems that act as redundant capacity components and distribution paths", adding fault tolerance beyond Tier III.

Who owns it

Uptime Institute administers Tier Certification directly, as described on its own tier-certification page.

Who assesses it

The scheme owner's own page (uptimeinstitute.com/tier-certification) describes a three-stage process it runs itself: "Tier Certification of Design Documents (TCDD)", which, verbatim, "positions data center projects for success from the earliest stages by applying standardized goals and methodology"; "Tier Certification of Constructed Facility (TCCF)", which, verbatim, "ensures that your facility has been constructed as designed and verifies that it is capable of meeting the defined performance requirements"; and "Tier Certification of Operational Sustainability (TCOS)", which, verbatim, "provides Tier Certified data center owners, operators, and managers with an assessment of the prioritized behaviors and risks intrinsic to data center operations."

Tier levels

• Tier I — "The basic capacity level with infrastructure to support information technology for an office setting and beyond"
• Tier II — "redundant capacity components for power and cooling that provide better maintenance opportunities and safety against disruptions"
• Tier III — "Concurrently maintainable with redundant components as a key differentiator, with redundant distribution paths to serve the critical environment"
• Tier IV — "several independent and physically isolated systems that act as redundant capacity components and distribution paths"