What Are Data Centre Tier Classifications?

Many companies rely upon their IT resources to be available 24/7 in order to run their business effectively.

Any company which has an integral reliance upon data centre operations will understand the importance of constant successful data access; and in turn will demand that their UPS system and infrastructure is capable of supplying this level of operation.

When it comes to company's who deal with data management you will often here talk about the five nines of reliability; this means the companies expect their IT should be available for use 99.
999% of the time.

With such high demands being expected from company's it is clear that the infrastructure of the data centre site must be of the highest level to facilitate the five nines level of operation.
Probably the most important factor in providing the 5 nines reliability to a data centre's continued and successful operation is its uninterruptible power supply (UPS); without a 24/7 clean power supply the critical load will fail the high level of operation that is expected. The UPS is the most integral part of continued operation of a data centre The tier classification system All data centres are judged by their need for availability and are then classified into the world wide system designed by The Uptime Institute (TUI).
Using the TUI system data centres are broken into 4 tier classifications ranging from the entry level of availability classified by tier 1 all the way up to the super reliable tier 4. The Tier level of UPS that is assigned to a data centre is highly dependent on what sort of critical loads the uninterruptible power supply is protecting and the type of data that is being stored or processed on its servers.
The different tiers also ascertain the level of back up protection supplied by the uninterruptible power supply and the availability the system can provide during periods of black out and maintenance. Judging which classification suits you Each individual business will have to decide which tier classification is suitable for their businesses needs.
Online and data management companies will certainly require at least tier 4 due to the constant demand for consistent data centre access.
Opting for a tier 4 Classification is the most advisable for most companies however it has higher costs and may require serious infrastructure development. Smaller companies can possibly afford to opt for a lower tier classification as long as they are able to take regular backups and do not need for their systems to be fully operational whatever the eventuality.