In today's digital world, data is recognized as a valuable asset, and the creation and management of a data center is vital for companies and organizations. Data centers play a vital role in providing online services, storing sensitive information, and supporting various processes. From online stores to social networks and financial services, everyone relies on data centers as their beating heart.

Data center design standards play a very important role as a main guide for creating and operating data centers. These standards provide detailed requirements and guidelines for various dimensions of the data center, including physical space, equipment, and infrastructure.

These standards, which were developed by reputable organizations such as TIA, BICSI and ASHRAE, provide comprehensive and efficient guidelines for the design and implementation of data centers. In this article, we will examine the importance of data center design standards, introduce the most common and We discuss the most important standards of data centers as well as key requirements in data center design based on standards in a complete and comprehensive manner

Data center design standards: Why are they important and what are their benefits?

In today's digital world, data centers play a vital role in the functioning of businesses and organizations. These massive centers house huge repositories of data and form the basis of online services, applications and critical processes. Due to the growing importance of data centers, compliance with their design and construction standards is of great importance.

Compliance with these standards can bring many benefits, including:

Cost reduction: Datacenters contain the most expensive equipment, and for this reason, optimizing energy consumption in them is of great importance. By focusing on things like efficient air conditioning and the use of high-efficiency equipment, the standards can significantly reduce energy consumption and minimize operating costs.
Increased sustainability: Adherence to electrical, cooling, and firefighting standards can prevent power outages, equipment failures, and data loss.
Improving security: Data centers are the main target of cyber attacks and information theft. Data center design standards help secure data and protect it from cyber threats by focusing on things like physical access control, security monitoring, and cryptographic technologies.
Improved performance: Data centers must be designed in such a way that they can process and move large volumes of data efficiently and without interruption. Standards help optimize data center performance and meet the growing needs of businesses by considering requirements such as network bandwidth, storage capacity, and processing power.

Adherence to data center design standards is a necessary and vital matter for any organization that seeks to ensure the safe, reliable and efficient operation of its data center. Because failure to comply with the standards can have unfortunate consequences, including power outages, loss of information, cyber attacks, reduced performance, and finally a sharp increase in costs and inefficiency of the center. We will go into more detail about the various data center design standards and how to implement them.

Types of data center design standards

The world of data centers consists of a set of standards and guidelines, each of which addresses specific aspects of data center design, construction, and operation. Choosing the right standard for each project depends on various factors, such as the type of data center, budget, specific needs, and local regulations. .

In the following, we introduce some of the most common standards:

1. TIA-942 standard

This standard was developed by the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) and is recognized as one of the most important and accepted standards in the field of data center design. TIA-942 covers a wide range of topics including the physical design of the data center space, power and cooling systems, security and cable management. The first edition of this standard was published in 1995 and has been continuously updated since then. This standard is used in all types of data centers, including small to large data centers and private and public data centers.

2. BICSI 002 standard

This standard, developed by the Building Communications Systems Industry Association (BICSI), focuses on the physical infrastructure of the data center, including cabling, racking, and electrical systems. BICSI 002 is popular among data center design and construction professionals due to its focus on technical details. The first edition of this standard was published in 1992 and has been continuously updated since then. This standard has paid attention to many details in the design and implementation of the data center. For example, attention has been paid to the water entering the building, the diameter of the pipe and even the place of garbage collection.

3. Tier standards

The Uptime Institute provides Tier standards for classifying data centers based on their level of reliability and stability. Tier levels are ranked from 1 to 4, with Tier 4 representing the highest level. Tier standards are critical for organizations that require uninterrupted data center performance, such as financial institutions and cloud service providers.

Level 1

Providing the most basic level of infrastructure with a single path for power and cooling systems
99.671% availability, equivalent to 28.8 hours of downtime per year
Level 2

Providing a slightly higher level of infrastructure with additional components
99.741% availability, equivalent to 22 hours of downtime per year
Level 3

Providing a significant level of infrastructure with multiple routes for power and cooling systems
99.982% availability, equivalent to 1.6 hours of downtime per year
Level 4

Providing the highest level of infrastructure with multiple paths for power and cooling systems as well as additional components
99.995% availability, equivalent to 26.3 minutes of downtime per year

4. ISO standards

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has developed an extensive set of standards for a wide range of industries, including data centers. Some of the ISO standards related to the data center are:

ISO 27001 serves as a guide to information security management and provides a framework for protecting critical information assets, including data, systems and networks. Focusing on the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information, this standard helps organizations identify, assess, and mitigate security risks.

ISO 20000 focuses on service management and provides a framework for providing high quality and efficient IT services. This standard helps organizations effectively deliver and support their IT services by defining key processes such as incident management, problem management and change management.

ISO 22301 serves as a guide to business continuity management and provides a framework to ensure that critical activities can continue in the event of disruptions. By helping organizations identify and manage potential risks, such as natural disasters, system failures or cyber-attacks, this standard helps them ensure the continuity of their operations in difficult circumstances.

5. ASHRAE Standards

The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) provides standards for the design and performance of heating, cooling, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems in data centers. ASHRAE standards are essential to ensure that data centers operate in appropriate temperature and humidity conditions.

ASHRAE Standard 90.1:

• Provides guidance for designing energy-efficient buildings.
• Includes guidelines for mechanical, electrical, lighting and renewable energy systems.

ASHRAE Standard 90.4:

• It deals with the design and operation of data centers.
• It includes guidelines for mechanical, electrical, and cooling systems, as well as managing and monitoring data center performance.

Choosing the right standard for data center design depends on several factors, including the size and complexity of the data center, specific business needs, and available budget. Fidar Kowsar consulting engineers with years of experience are ready to provide expert advice for your data center

Key requirements in data center design based on standards

1- Location and building

• Location: The data center should be located away from high-risk areas such as flood and earthquake prone areas, airline lines, dams, mines, reservoirs and coastline.
• Building: The data center building must be made of fire resistant materials and have proper fire extinguishing systems.
• Dimensions: minimum height 2.7 meters, width 6 meters and length 9 meters
• Temperature and humidity control: The temperature of the data center must be kept between 18 and 25 degrees Celsius and the humidity between 30 and 60 percent.
• Floor: TIA-942 and BICSI 002 standards specify the height of the false floor in the data center to be 30 and 50 cm, respectively. The false floor must be resistant to fire, static loads, static electricity and withstand at least 7.2 KPA loading and 1.2 KPA suspended load. slow
• Ceiling: The false ceiling in the data center is necessary for the passage of pipes, wiring and equipment. Its permissible height from the false floor to the lowest equipment under the ceiling is 2.6 meters.
• Walls: No windows, seams, holes or holes are allowed in the walls. In order to prevent the spread of fire, completely fireproof colors should be used for the walls.
• Doors: The width of the doors should be at least 110 cm so that the equipment can pass easily.
• Cable tray and ladder for cabling: Cable trays should be installed under the false floor and should not obstruct ventilation. Trays can be designed as multi-layered to provide more capacity by occupying less space. Their depth should not exceed 15 cm. The trays should be non-flammable, resistant to impact, high weight and chemicals.

2- Equipment and infrastructure

1. Electrical systems

One of the data center design standards specifies requirements for data center power systems, including power supply, power distribution, backup systems, and lightning protection. These requirements are designed to ensure reliable and uninterrupted power supply to data center equipment.

• Lighting system: You should use the most energy-efficient lamps such as LED and CPL. The use of fluorescent lamps is not allowed. According to the TIA942 standard, the minimum amount of light allowed in the entrance room. 500 lux on the horizontal level and 200 lux on the vertical level.
• UPS: Power control equipment such as switchboards and small UPS up to 100 kVA can be installed in the computer room. But acid batteries, UPSs larger than 100 kVA and UPSs using wet batteries should be set up in a separate and independent space.
• Computer and HVAC equipment should have separate electrical panels

2. Cooling systems

Specifies requirements for data center cooling systems, including chillers, fans, dehumidifiers, and temperature control systems. These requirements are necessary to maintain proper temperature and humidity inside the space and prevent overheating of sensitive equipment. Cooling systems should be placed at least 24 inches above the floor.

There are three main methods for distributing cold air in data centers, each with its own advantages and disadvantages:

Row Oriented System:

• In this method, the cooling units are placed in the space between the rows of racks, either under or above the false floor.
• Racks with higher power are arranged in one row and racks with lower power are arranged in another row.
• This method is suitable for data centers that have variable thermal density.

Room Oriented System:

• In this method, the entire space of the data center is considered as a cooling unit.
• This method depends on the height of the ceiling and the type of room structure.
• In this method, hot and cold air are mixed together to reach the desired temperature of the data center.
• This method is suitable for data centers that have a constant thermal density.

Internal rack system (Rack Oriented):

• In this method, the cooling unit is placed inside each rack.
• This method controls the temperature of each rack independently.
• The advantage of this method is that regardless of room temperature changes, the temperature of each rack can be kept at a constant level.
• This method is suitable for data centers that need to accurately control the temperature of each rack.

3. Network infrastructure

Data center network infrastructure plays a vital role in transferring data between equipment and providing services to users. It specifies requirements for network infrastructure, including cables, switches, routers, and firewalls. These requirements are designed to ensure the proper functioning of the network and the exchange of information in the data center.

Cabling

• The quality of the cables should be proportional to the power consumption. To size them, the maximum power must be taken into account with an additional 20%
• The entry path of the cables should be underground and enough space should be considered for future development.
• Each supplier must install at least one 4-inch pipe at each entry point.
• Sockets should be industrial and earthed and three-phase type should be used.
• All wires and cables must be routed in conduit, trays or other protective substrates.

Network equipment and local area network

• Hierarchical and star topologies should be used for data center LAN.
• Use static and dynamic addressing for network devices in the data center LAN.
• TCP/IP, UDP and ICMP protocols should be used to transfer data in the LAN of the data center.
• It recommends using layer 2 and layer 3 switches for network segmentation with security features such as access control list (ACL) and VLANs to protect the network from unauthorized access.
• It recommends the use of firewalls based on packet filtering or firewalls based on Stateful Inspection in the data center.
• It recommends using network routers with advanced traffic management capabilities to prioritize traffic and ensure the performance of critical applications.

3- Safety and security

Data center security is of utmost importance as it protects sensitive data and equipment from a wide range of threats, including fire, theft and cyber attacks.

Environmental security

A limited number of people should be allowed to access and enter the data center and server room
The use of locks (electronic or biometric), identification cards, video surveillance systems and 24-hour patrols are necessary to prevent unauthorized people from entering the data center.
Use locks or protective shelves for racks
For information security, measures such as data encryption, data access control, and firewalls should be implemented.

cybersecurity

Use of ISMS, CSC, NIST guidelines that are developed to manage and protect information against cyber threats in an organization, including data centers.
Data centers must be equipped with firewalls, intrusion detection systems (IDS) and intrusion prevention systems (IPS).
For information security, measures such as data encryption and data access control should be implemented

Fire announcement and extinguishing

Specifies requirements for fire suppression systems, including type of fire suppression system, location of detectors and sprinklers, and emergency evacuation procedures. These requirements are necessary to minimize the risk of fire and protect equipment and data in the event of a fire.

• The use of an automatic fire extinguishing system such as sprinkler and fog systems that are automatically activated upon detection of smoke or heat is required.
• To extinguish the fire in the server rooms, it is recommended to use Clean agent gases such as FM-200 and Novec 1230 along with a suitable fire alarm system.
• Fire extinguishing systems must comply with standards and not damage equipment.
• The walls should be covered with fireproof paint (Epoxy) to fill the seams and create an outer protective layer.
• It is not recommended to use the Aerosol system in the server room.
• The fire extinguishing system must be of the Total Flooding type.
• The fire extinguishing system must have extinguishing power in fire classes A and C.
• It is necessary to install smoke detectors in different parts of the data center and equip with audio and visual warning systems to quickly evacuate personnel and prevent the spread of fire.
• A fire alarm system is used to detect a fire.
• The fire alarm system should include detection sensors, fire extinguishers and central controller.
• In addition to using sirens and warnings, the fire alarm system can send SMS to the network administrators.

4- Supervision and monitoring

The last item in the requirements of the data center design standards is supervision and monitoring. To maintain the security and correct and uninterrupted operation of the data center, it is necessary to effectively supervise and monitor the data center.

Traffic control and security cameras

• Controlling the entry and exit of people and equipment is necessary to prevent unauthorized access, theft and vandalism
• In order to control physical access to the data center, smart cards, biometric authentication, and video surveillance systems should be used.
• Data centers should be equipped with security fences, controlled entrance gates, trained security personnel and security cameras.
• Security cameras should be installed at strategic points in the data center and their images should be recorded and stored continuously.

Monitoring systems

• Accurate and constant monitoring of temperature, humidity, electricity, network, equipment activity and other critical data center parameters is necessary.
• Babod monitoring systems work by monitoring environmental factors and sending warnings in case of danger
• These systems should send necessary warnings to the authorities in case of temperature increase, humidity, water leakage, power outage, voltage fluctuation, etc., or perform actions such as activating the ventilation system automatically.
• Monitoring systems should provide remote control and management of server room equipment through mobile phone or user panel.
• The monitoring system should be able to send alerts in different ways such as SMS, email and alarm.

BMS intelligent management systems

BMS (Building Management System) intelligent management systems automatically perform many tasks related to data center monitoring and control. According to the TIA-942 standard, it is necessary and necessary to use BMS in the data center.

Some of the benefits of using BMS are:

Increased efficiency: It can automatically perform various tasks such as adjusting temperature and humidity, turning equipment on and off, and power management.
Cost reduction: BMS can help operators optimize their energy consumption and reduce operating costs.
Improved reliability: The system can automatically detect and resolve problems and prevent breakdowns.

Conclusion

In today's busy and complex world, building and maintaining a stable and secure data center is very important for any organization. The use of data center design standards not only serves as an important guide for building and managing data centers, but also as a long-term investment in the security and efficiency of information systems.

Compliance with data center design standards allows organizations to take care of their digital assets with better confidence and provide high-quality online services. Especially at a time when emerging technologies such as the cloud, the Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence are expanding rapidly, these standards are vital as a valid guide for creating a stable and reliable information infrastructure.

In this article, we reviewed the key requirements and guidelines related to data center design in the framework of various standards. Standards such as TIA-942, BICSI 002, Tier, ISO and ASHRAE each provide a roadmap for building and maintaining modern and reliable data centers by providing expert guidance on various areas, from physical space to equipment and infrastructure.

If you are planning to build a new data center or upgrade your existing data center, we strongly recommend you to consult experienced experts in this field. Using the knowledge and experience of its specialists, Fidar Kowsar Company is ready to provide consulting and services for the design and construction of data centers based on the highest global standards. Contact us to talk more about your data center needs and benefit from our specialized solutions to design and build a stable, efficient and secure data center.