As the general argument goes, the fault tolerance of a tier 4 data center may be overkill for all but the most mission-critical applications of the largest enterprise. When it comes time for a business to decide, maybe the perspectives should shift to the equal need for fault avoidance.
According to the accepted Uptime Institute standard, tier 4 data center specifications call for two parallel power and cooling systems with no single point of failure (also known as 2N). While this level of fault tolerance often comes at a premium price, many enterprises see the security, reliability and redundancy as being worth it to ensure the drop in potential downtime over a tier 3 data center.
This single point of failure for any and all components is certainly nothing to scoff at when it comes to the performance of the computer equipment. Knowing that a planned approach to anytime compute component removal that foregoes compute system disruption is a major plus. But even with the understanding that comes from reading a comprehensive data center tier level guide, it becomes apparent that thinking should go beyond the tier levels to a colocation data center’s ability to provide fault avoidance.
Fault avoidance is all about the fact that many complications that lead to data center downtime can be prevented with equipment and systems monitoring, a proactive trained staff with thorough procedures, and strict maintenance protocols. In other words, fault tolerance while important is reactive where fault avoidance focuses on prevention, which is equally important.
Whether it is a tier 4 data center or a tier 3 data center, enterprises should be looking closely at these other fault avoidance parameters and systems. For instance, does the facility utilize a sophisticated and proven building management system (BMS) and building automation system (BAS)? These crucial systems allow operators to monitor systems for health status of data center equipment through gathered equipment sensor data for real-time insights. The collected data can then be used to deliver an automated response or direct proactive technician intervention.
Since we have yet to reach the ideal of the truly automated data center, highly skilled operations teams must work in tandem with the systems to anticipate problems before they occur and quickly troubleshoot issues when they do arise. Visit source for more details.
Contact Details:
Telehouse America
7 Teleport Drive,
Staten Island,
New York, USA 10311
Phone No: 718–355–2500
Email: gregory.grant@telehouse.com
