Information technology - Data centre facilities and infrastructures - Part 1: General concepts

Overview

ISO/IEC 22237-1:2021 is the international counterpart of EN 50600-1 and sets the general principles on which the other parts of the ISO/IEC 22237 series rely. The first edition, published in October 2021, runs to 29 pages and replaces the 2018 Technical Specification ISO/IEC TS 22237-1. It is not a design specification in itself but the common language and framework of the series; topics such as power, cooling, cabling and security are detailed in other parts.

At its centre is a classification system. The system rests on availability, security and energy efficiency over the planned lifetime. This lets the data centre owner state the target class that fits the business requirements, and lets designers decide component-level redundancy and protection against that target. The standard also defines common terminology, parameters and reference models covering functional elements and how they are accommodated.

Another contribution is the idea that class selection should not be arbitrary. To make the classification applicable, the standard details the issues that a business risk and operating cost analysis must address. The chosen class is thereby grounded in the organisation's real risk appetite and cost realities. This turns the class into a documented decision taken at the start of the design. The limits of scope are also clear: selection of IT and network equipment and quantitative multi-site availability analysis fall outside the series. Related standards include EN 50600-1, ISO/IEC 22237-3, ISO/IEC 22237-4 and TIA-942. The full text is a paid standard; this summary relies only on the publisher's public catalogue abstract and product metadata.

Key points

1. International counterpart of EN 50600-1; sets the general principles of the ISO/IEC 22237 series.
2. Defines a classification system based on availability, security and energy efficiency over the planned lifetime.
3. Provides common terminology, parameters and reference models (functional elements and their accommodation).
4. Details the issues a business risk and operating cost analysis must address to apply the classification.
5. Selection of IT/network equipment and quantitative multi-site availability analysis are outside the scope.
6. Edition 1 was published 2021-10-05 (29 pages) and replaces ISO/IEC TS 22237-1:2018.
7. Related standards: EN 50600-1, ISO/IEC 22237-3, ISO/IEC 22237-4 and TIA-942.

Using it in design

• At project setup, offer ISO/IEC 22237 alongside EN 50600 as a selectable standard profile.
• Map the availability class (1-4) to default redundancy rules for power and cooling.
• Instead of asking novices to pick a class, start with a guided risk and cost questionnaire that recommends one.
• Record security and energy-efficiency targets alongside availability as part of the classification.

Who should read it

Designers, consultants and investment decision makers who set the classification target of a data centre.

Related standards

• EN 50600-1
• ISO/IEC 22237-3
• ISO/IEC 22237-4
• TIA-942

Publication details

Authors

ISO/IEC JTC 1

Publisher

ISO/IEC

Year

2021

Document number

ISO/IEC 22237-1:2021

Document language

English

Source type

Standard

Access

Citation only

Licence

Copyright retained; citation only — the publisher’s terms apply to the original document

Citation