In this article we will explain what is the datacenter tiering and which one is better, Tier 1 or Tier 4 datacenter. First of all, Tier standard is used to define uptime of a datacenter. This is indeed for measuring datacenter performance, calculating investments and company ROI (return on investment).
Tier 4 datacenter considered as most robust and less prone to failures. Tier 4 is designed to host mission critical systems, colocate servers with fully redundant infrastructure (cooling, power, network links, storage etc) and advanced security zones controlled by biometric access controls methods. Opposite the Tier 4 is the simplest Tier 1 datacenter which used by small and medium companies.
Classification of Tier 1-4
- Tier 1 = Non-redundant capacity components (single uplink and servers).
- Tier 2 = Tier 1 + Redundant capacity components.
- Tier 3 = Tier 1 + Tier 2 + Dual-powered equipments and multiple uplinks.
- Tier 4 = Tier 1 + Tier 2 + Tier 3 + all components are fully fault-tolerant including uplinks, storage, chillers, HVAC systems, servers etc. Everything is dual-powered.
Uptime guarantee rates according to Tiering
Tier 1: Guaranteeing 99.671% availability.
Tier 2: Guaranteeing 99.741% availability.
Tier 3: Guaranteeing 99.982% availability.
Tier 4: Guaranteeing 99.995% availability.