Uptime Institute goes off on TIA-942

In the mode of Mythbusters, The Uptime Institute has taken issue with the belief, apparently commonly held, that the TIA-942 standard is a valid guideline for its (The Uptime Institute's) Data Center Tier classification system.

We talked to Jonathan Jew, one of TIA-942's creators and a co-editor of the still-in-development TIA-942-A specifications, about the Institute's claims. He didn't disagree.

Remember that part of The Uptime Institute's business is to provide training through which design professionals can achieve the organization's Accredited Tier Designer (ATD) designation. It's not in the Institute's business interests to let everyone believe they can buy a standard from TIA and "Voila!" they can follow its script to design a Tier IV data center. Not to mention anything in the way of altruism -- you know, actually caring about designs being done correctly so data centers perform at the extremely high levels their owners require.

It's not too different from the structured cabling industry. One can't just read a standard and have the in-depth knowledge necessary to design a complex layer-one infrastructure system for an organization's dynamic network. Although, I bet many of you have seen a cabling system or two that looked like their designers gave it a try.

TIA-942 Data Center Cabling standard set for revision

In the second half of 2009, members of the Telecommunications Industry Association's TR-42.1 Commercial Building Cabling Subcommittee began working on a revision of the TIA-942 Telecommunications Infrastructure Standard for Data Centers. TIA-942 was published in 2005 and, according to ANSI guidelines, the standard must be revised, affirmed, or rescinded in five years. At its August 6, 2009 meeting, TR-42.1 unanimously approved the creation of a project to revise the standard. The revision will ultimately be published as TIA-942A.

Minutes from TR-42.1's final meeting of 2009, which took place November 5, indicate the TIA-942A standard will include a number of changes and additions, several of which will focus on energy efficiency.

The TR-42.1 Subcommittee meets next on Thursday, February 4. We will track the developments of the TIA-942A specification and keep you updated on specifics as they emerge.