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Understanding the Different Data Centre Tiers

By April 27, 2022September 11th, 2023No Comments

Data centre tiers are standards that exist to evaluate the quality and reliability of a data centre’s hosting ability. It is a 4 tier ranking system that is utilized by different data centres in Canada. The 4 tiers are:

  • Tier I
  • Tier II
  • Tier III
  • Tier IV

Tier I data centers offer power and no redundancy. Tier II data centers offer partial redundancy in power and cooling. Tier III data centers are concurrently maintainable, allowing for power and cooling system maintenance while the computer is operating. Tier III offers N+1 availability, explained in the Tier III section below. Tier IV data centers are fault-tolerant and have no single points of failure.

The 4 tiers are broken down further below.

Tier 1

Tier 1 data centers are generally utilized by small businesses and have an average of 28.8 hours of downtime per year. Tier 1 data centers do not have redundancy.

Tier 2

Tier 2 data centers offer partial redundancy in power and cooling, and only experience 22 hours of downtime per year.

Tier 3

Tier 3 data centers are utilized by larger businesses and experience no more than 1.6 hours of downtime per year. A tier 3 data center is N+1 fault tolerant, which provides at least 72-hour power outage protection. Your data centre will continue operating during that 72-hour period.

Tier 4

Tier 4 data centers are 2N+1 fully redundant and typically serve enterprise corporations. They usually experience just 26.3 minutes of downtime per year and have 96-hour power outage protection.

Standard Tier for Canadian Data Centres

The standard tier for Canadian data centres is Tier III. One of the best companies for data center services in Toronto is Pathway Communications. Pathway Communications is a company that provides Tier 3 data center services to data centres in Canada. We understand the importance of meeting data centre requirements, and we are ready to provide you with solutions to your current problems.

We are ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 27001:2013 certified and meet SOC 2 Type II compliant for the ultimate reliability, security, and privacy. Pathway Communications guarantees your files and data are safe and secure.
We have backups at every level to ensure your infrastructure never goes down. We have multiple levels of redundancy built into systems to aid in cooling, power, disaster recovery, and network operation. We guarantee 99.9% uptime.

Your clients, the government, and your partners demand state-of-the-art facilities and the highest level of security and privacy. Our Tier III data centre facility has every feature you need for your Toronto data center and assured security that safeguards your data.

If you need Tier 3 data center services in Canada, visit our website or contact us for more information!