If you’re interested in using the services of a data centre, you first need to understand the data centre tiers that describe each one. These tiers are used as a way of classifying every data centre, so businesses can better understand which one will be the right fit for their needs.
But, without the right experience and knowledge about data centres, it can be difficult to work out which tier is best for your business. Fortunately, at M247, we know the struggle our clients face when it comes to making this decision, which is why we’ve created a blog to help you make the right choice.
Read on to find out about data centre tiers, how they are classified, and how to pick the right tier for you.
If you’d like to find out more about M247’s colocation hosting services, we’ll be happy to help – just make your enquiry here.
What are data centre tiers?
Data centre tiers are used to describe the capabilities of a data centre. For example, if a business wants to understand whether a data centre can scale up with their company growth, they’ll look at the data centre’s tier system to get an understanding of its availability.
The system was created over 25 years ago by the Uptime Institute, and remains a standard used internationally to dictate a data centre’s performance.
What is the data centre tier classification system?
The data centre tier classification system that is used by the Uptime Institute includes four different tiers of data centre. Each tier is progressively more capable than the last.
In other words, Tier 4 includes everything you would find in a Tier 1, 2, or 3 data centre. But, it doesn’t mean that a data centre with a higher tier is better than one with a lower tier, it just means that different tiers have something to offer different types of businesses.
These tiers are calculated by using the following measurements:
Availability, redundancy, and uptime
Availability, redundancy, and uptime refer to the amount of time a data centre is operating and functioning normally. So, if a data centre has a lower uptime, this means that businesses operating within it have more chance of disruption occurring when it comes to providing services for customers.
Efficiency and sustainability
Efficiency and sustainability in a data centre focus on how well it is performing in terms of its energy usage. If a data centre is considered to have high efficiency, it means that the energy they are using is being allocated in a resourceful way.
Cost
How much a data centre spends on operational costs will also affect its tier certification. For example, Tier 4 data centres will likely cost more to run in terms of their operations, because they will be bigger than Tier 1, 2, or 3 data centres, and will host more IT infrastructure and maintenance equipment.
Security
The cyber security levels of a data centre are also something that can affect a tier certification. This refers to how well a data centre responds to data breaches and other cyber risks. For example, a Tier 4 data centre will have the highest levels of security available, as they typically are used by large corporations and government organisations.
What are the four data centre tiers?
As mentioned, there are four tiers included in the Uptime Institute’s classification. Let’s explore each one in more detail below.
Tier 1 data centre
A Tier 1 data centre is the most basic type of data centre out of the four-tier certification. It offers a single path for power and cooling capabilities. Typically, Tier 1 data centres are located in an office location, and may or may not have an uninterruptible power supply (UPS).
Tier 1 data centres offer the lowest availability and uptime out of the four tiers. To be precise, this means an expected uptime of 99.671% per year. These data centres have no redundancy features, meaning that when maintenance and repairs occur, all equipment must be switched off.
What type of businesses use a Tier 1 data centre?
Tier 1 data centres are typically used by businesses that are in need of some extra space, but don’t want to incur the costs of a Tier 4 data centre, nor do they rely on real-time service outputs. In other words, they don’t need to receive data responses instantaneously.
Tier 2 data centre
A Tier 2 data centre also offers a single path for power and cooling capabilities. But, they do offer more redundancy options as they house extra IT infrastructure.
Tier 2 data centres have an expected uptime of 99.741% per year – a marginal improvement of the uptime offering of Tier 1 data centres.
What type of businesses use a Tier 2 data centre?
Whilst Tier 3 and Tier 4 data centres are a better option for businesses looking for a higher level of fault tolerance, they are an affordable choice for companies that don’t have critical components or service level agreements (SLAs) in place. In other words, they don’t have suppliers that are reliant on their business being fully operational 24/7.
Tier 3 data centre
Tier 3 data cenres have multiple pathways for power and cooling capabilities. What’s more, they also have an added layer of reliability as they have systems in place to update and maintain it – without having periods of downtime.
Tier 3 data centres have an expected uptime of 99.982%, a significant increase from Tier 2 data centres.
What type of businesses use a Tier 3 data centre?
Tier 3 data centres are the most common type of data centre used worldwide. It is mostly used by businesses that require year-on-year support. These types of data centres have massive appeal because of their levels of reliability – so businesses that do have critical components or SLAs in place can be reassured that they won’t experience long periods of downtime.
Tier 4 data centre
A Tier 4 data centre is the highest tier classification available. Every piece of equipment in this type of data centre design has a back-up, which means it’s costly to build and run.
But, it also means it has a high level of uptime – amounting to approximately 99.99%, providing the businesses that use it with a high fault tolerance.
What type of businesses use a Tier 4 data centre?
Because of their large-scale infrastructure, Tier 4 data centres are typically used by large organisations and corporations who have the money to spend on extensively managed reliability, security, and back-up options.
Are there any Tier 5 data centres?
There is one Tier 5 data centre in the world – not recognised by the Uptime Institute – but it does set a good standard for future data centre construction.
Tier 5 standards include all of the Tier 4 standards, as well as additional sustainability requirements. For example, to be considered Tier 5, the data centre needs to run its network without using any water or using local and renewable power to generate it.
How to pick the right data centre tier for you
There are several things you should consider and factor into what data centre tier you should choose. For example:
- Data usage: If your business hosts large amounts of data – including the protected data customers, you might need to consider using a data centre with a higher tier assigned to it.
- Budgetary constraints: Using a higher data centre will mean you have to spend more of your business’s budget on hiring its services. If you need data support, but can’t afford to spend too much money – consider using a lower-tier data centre.
Current security measures: If you need to ensure your data is protected with the highest amount of cyber security, and you can afford to spend more, opt for a Tier 3 or Tier 4 data centre.
Does your business need a data centre? Get expert advice and guidance from M247 today
Business demand is a great sign that your products and services are working for your customers. But, it also comes with more demand on your operational resources – including your IT infrastructure. As a result, you might be interested in using the services of a data centre.
But, with a variety of types and tiers of data centre available, it can be difficult to find the right one for your business.
But, when you work with M247, we work alongside you to confirm what services your business is in need of – as well as what data centre tier would best suit you. And, if you’re looking for advice around hosting– we can help with that too.
Grow alongside your business with help from M247 and our variety of digital transformation solutions.
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