How are Uptime Institute (UTI) Standards Relevant to AFCOM Members?

Jonas SadauskasIPP Consulting

17th March 2011

Slide 2 17 March 2011

Topics to be covered

What is the Uptime Institute (UTI)? Why is UTI relevant to AFCOM members? How are UTI Tier levels and TIA/EIA Tier levels related? How to pick an appropriate UTI Tier UTI Operational Sustainability Standard UTI Operational Sustainability Standard inclusions &

exclusions How is the UTI Operational Sustainability Standard

relevant? UTI Tier Certification Process Where to from here?

Slide 3

What is the Uptime Institute (UTI)?

Formed by Data Centre Owners, Operators and Managers

Focus on improving Data Centre reliability and availability

UTI collects and analyses failures amongst their network members and provides feedback

Was acquired in 2009 by the 451 Group Consequently, UTI now provides a Data Centre

Certification Service

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Slide 4

What are the currently recognised main Data Centre Standards?

TIA/EIA-942: Telecommunications Infrastructure Standard for Data Centers

UTI: Data Centre Site Infrastructure Tier Standard: Topology

UTI: Data Center Site Infrastructure Tier Standard: Operational Sustainability

AS, BS, Vendor (IBM, HP, Fujitsu) etc.

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Slide 5

What is TIA/EIA 942 (with amendments)?

TIA/EIA is a Standards Organisation TIA/EIA Standard can be summarised by a tick sheet

summary table TIA/EIA standard finishes with the design and build Tier Levels are 1, 2, 3 and 4

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What is the UTI Tier Standard?

Blend of design, build and run considerations UTI is focused on operational outcomes UTI design principles need to be incorporated upfront

into the specification/design/phase of the build De-facto industry standard Both UTI and TIA/EIA 942 (as amended) both aim for

high availability commensurate with client requirements Tier Levels are I, II, III and IV

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Slide 7

How are TIA/EIA Tier Levels and UTI Tier Levels Related?

Similarity is mainly superficial Not competing, they are complementary TIA/EIA defines how many capacity elements or

systems are required UTI is an outcome based Standard; design requires

detailed analysis UTI defines how the capacity elements or systems are

connected For best results, both TIA and UTI Tiers should be

defined for a site

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How to pick an appropriate UTI Tier

Need to determine the owner’s business needs, typically:

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Criteria Appropriate UTI Tiers

Tactical business objectives:- Time to market- Start up cost driven- Availability not business critical

I, II

Strategic business objectives:-Life cycle cost driven-Rigorous availability requirements-Growth unlimited by site infrastructure topology-Site infrastructure needs to out live current IT requirementsSource: Uptime Institute

III, IV

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Tier rating is per separate Data Centre Infrastructure block

What is more resilient, two Tier II with real-time mirroring, or one Tier IV + one Tier II? What is the cheaper option?

Does not consider installed IT infrastructure such as mirroring

Does consider dual corded IT equipment for Tier III and IV

“A Chain is only as strong as its weakest link” when it comes to Tier Certification

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How to pick an appropriate UTI Tier

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What is the UTI Operational Sustainability Standard?

It is a methodology for aligning the Facility Management program within the selected Tier level to achieve business objectives

Establishes behaviours that impact the long term data centre performance

Rating levels are Gold, Silver and Bronze

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What does the UTI Operational Sustainability Standard contain?

Included Excluded

Staffing and Organisation Safety

Maintenance Environmental (external emissions)

Training Security

Planning, Coordination and Management

Personnel Management

Building Features

DC Infrastructure

Operating Conditions

Pre-Operational (Commissioning)Source: Uptime Institute

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Slide 12

How is the UTI Operational Sustainability Standard relevant?

The Operational Sustainability Standard is about the ongoing management of a Data Centre

UTI statistics show that the root cause of 70% of Data Centre incidents resulting in a service outage are a result of human error or lack of action

Management decisions form a major component of these incidents

Much attention is paid to processes, procedures and incident response plans

Initial site commissioning is included under this standard

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Slide 13

UTI Tier Certification Process

Two stages of Certification: Design Certification Constructed Facility Certification

Presently more certified designs than facilities Using an Accredited Tier Designer upfront should:

Speed up the design process Save money by reducing the need for design rework End up with a more operationally resilient site

To become a UTI Accredited Tier Designer: Have an approved engineering degree Be a member of IEAust Have your CV signed off by a Chartered Engineer Pass the UTI Accreditation Examination

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Slide 14

References for further information

The UTI URL for document downloads is:

http://uptimeinstitute.org/content/view/302/281/

The IPP Consulting item on the certification process is available at:

http://www.ipp.com.au/uptime-tier-certification-talk-to-one-of-our-exper/w1/i1002175/

Questions?

17 March 2011