Telecommunications Infrastructure

Standard for Data Centers

ANSI/TIA-942

Chris DiMinico
cdiminico@ieee.org IEEE 802.3 HSSG
MC Communications
Data Center Standards
ANSI/TIA-942 Telecommunications
Infrastructure Standard for Data Centers
Co-chairs: Chris DiMinico & Jonathan Jew
Published 2005 available through TIA at
www.tiaonline.org
ANSI/NECA/BICSI-002 Data Center Design
and Implementation Best Practices
co-chairs: Jonathan Jew & John Kacperski
best practices complements TIA-942
2007 target
IEEE 802.3 HSSG
Who Developed TIA-942?
Developed by the TIA TR-42.1.1 Network
Distribution Nodes subcommittee as Project
No. 3-0092
Participants included:
Architecture & Engineering Firms
Consultants
End Users
Manufacturers

IEEE 802.3 HSSG

Purpose of TIA-942
Encourage early participation of telecom
designers in data center design process
Fill a void by providing standards for planning
of data centers, computer rooms, server
rooms, and similar spaces.
The standard encompasses much more than
just telecommunications infrastructure.
Close to half of the technical content deals
with facility specifications.

IEEE 802.3 HSSG

Purpose of TIA-942
Define a standard telecommunications
infrastructure for data centers
Structured cabling system for data centers using
standardized architecture and media
Accommodates a wide range of applications (LAN,
WAN, SAN, channels, consoles)
Accommodates current and future protocols
(e.g., 10+ GbE )
Replaces unstructured point-to-point cabling that
uses different cabling for different applications

IEEE 802.3 HSSG

Purpose of TIA-942
Specifications for data center
telecommunications pathways and spaces
Recommendations on media and distance for
applications over structured cabling
Establish a standard for data center tiers to
replace several proprietary standards. The
TIA data center tier standard is:
A tool to evaluate existing data centers
A tool to communicate design
requirements

IEEE 802.3 HSSG

Unstructured Cabling
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z AA AB AC AD AE AF AG AH AI AJ AK AL AM AN AO AP AQ AR AS

Heater - A/C Heater - A/C Heater - A/C

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16

IEEE 802.3 HSSG

Structured Cabling
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z AA AB AC AD AE AF AG AH AI AJ AK AL AM AN AO AP AQ AR AS

Heater - A/C Heater - A/C Heater - A/C

1 STORAGE POMONA
FIL E FIL E FIL E
POMONA
DESK CABINET
FILE

TABLE TABLE A/C UNIT CABINET CABINET CABINET CABINET

A/C UNIT CD ROM HP
247-7589 SCANN ER PRINTER
2 #7 #6
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AT&T
DEFINITY
Heater - A/C

CON SOLE
ROUTE R
UNIT

CISCO
3
NETWORK
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& CORE
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H ALON
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CAB INE T
CABI NET

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CAB IN ET

C6
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IDF
I8

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N ETWORK
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IEEE 802.3 HSSG

Design Elements
Cabling Design
Facility Design
Network Design
Informative annexs: Provide best practices
Annex A - Cabling Design Considerations
Annex B- Telecommunications infrastructure
administration
Annex C-Access provider information
Annex D- Coordination of equipment plans with
other engineers
Annex E- Data center space considerations
Annex F- Site selection

IEEE 802.3 HSSG

Design Elements
Cabling Design:

Copper and fiber cabling performance

Connectors, cables, distribution hardware
Cabling distances
Space management
Facility Design:

Data center sizing

Power distribution methodologies
Pathways and spaces
HVAC, security, operations, and administration.
Flexibility, scalability, reliability and space
management
IEEE 802.3 HSSG
Design Elements
Network Design:

Support of legacy systems

Enable rapid deployment of new and emerging
technologies such as 10 GbE and 10+ GbE
copper and fiber applications.

IEEE 802.3 HSSG

 Relationship of Spaces
BUILDING SITE
BUILDING SHELL
GENERAL OFFICE TELECOM ROOMS & OFFICE BUILDING
SPACE EQUIPMENT ROOMS SUPPORT SPACE
for spaces outside data
center

DATA CENTER
SUPPORT ENTRANCE DATA CENTER
STAFF ROOM(S) ELECTRICAL &
OFFICES MECHANICAL ROOMS

OPERATIONS TELECOM ROOM(S)

STORAGE ROOMS
CENTER for data center
& LOADING DOCKS
support spaces

COMPUTER ROOM

IEEE 802.3 HSSG

 Data Center Topology
Entrance Room
Entrance Carriers Active Equip Carriers
Facility interconnect

Offices, Operations
Center, Support Rooms
Secondary Entrance Room

Active Equip Active Equip Carriers

interconnect
MC
MC
interconnect Carriers

Back bone
Cabling

HC
IC IC
HC HC
IC ICHC
Zone
Horizontal Distribution
Cabling
interconnect
interconnect interconnect interconnect
Active Equip Active Equip Active Equip
Storage Area Active Equip
Devices
Data Center
IEEE 802.3 HSSG
 TIA-942 Spaces
Entrance Room (ER) - location of interface
with campus and carrier entrance facilities
Main Distribution Area (MDA) location of
main cross-connect (MC)
Horizontal Distribution Area (HDA) location
of horizontal cross-connect (HC)
Zone Distribution Area (ZDA) location of
zone outlet (ZO) or consolidation point (CP)
Equipment Distribution Area (EDA) location
of equipment cabinets and racks

IEEE 802.3 HSSG

Data Center Cabling
Main
MC
MC Distribution
Area

Backbone
Cabling
Horizontal Horizontal
Cabling HC
IC ICHC Distribution
Area

Zone
interconnect Distribution
Area

Equipment
interconnect interconnect Active Equip Distribution
Active Equip Active Equip Area

Horizontal cabling is the cabling from the horizontal cross-connect (in the
main distribution area or horizontal distribution area) to the outlet in the
equipment distribution area or zone distribution area.
IEEE 802.3 HSSG
Horizontal and Backbone Cabling
Recognized Cables:
a) 100-ohm twisted-pair cable (ANSI/TIA/EIA-568-
B.2), category 6 recommended (ANSI/TIA/EIA-
568-B.2-1)
b) multimode optical fiber cable, either 62.5/125
micron or 50/125 micron (ANSI/TIA/EIA-568-B.3),
50/125 micron 850 nm laser optimized multimode
fiber is recommended (ANSI/TIA-568-3-1)
c)singlemode optical fiber cable (ANSI/TIA/EIA-
568-B.3)
d)75-ohm (734 and 735 type) coaxial cable
(Telcordia Technologies GR-139-CORE)

IEEE 802.3 HSSG

Horizontal cabling distances
The maximum horizontal distance is 90 m
independent of media type.
The maximum channel distance including
equipment cords is 100 m.
The maximum cabling distance in a data
center not containing a horizontal
distribution area is:
300 m for an optical fiber channel including
equipment cords.
100 m for copper cabling including equipment
cords.

IEEE 802.3 HSSG

Backbone Cabling
Includes cabling from MDA to ER, HDA
Optional cabling between HDAs allowed
Maximum backbone cable lengths depend on
applications to be supported
Centralized optical fiber cabling supported
with interconnect, splice, or pull-through at
the HDA
Star topology with no intermediate cross-
connects
Various topologies permit redundancy and
flexibility to support various data center sizes

IEEE 802.3 HSSG

Computer Room & Entrance Room
Requirements
Min clear height of 2.6m/8.5 ft
Min door size 1m/3ft wide 2.13/7ft high
Min dist floor loading 7.2 kPA/150lbf/ft2,
recommended min 12 kPA/250 lbf/ft2
20 degrees C to 25 degrees C
40% to 55% relative humidity (reduces ESD)
Any sprinkler systems must be pre-action
system
Common bonding network (CBN)
equipotential ground reference

IEEE 802.3 HSSG

Main Distribution Area
Location of Main Cross-Connect (MC), the
central point of distribution for data center
structured cabling system
Centrally located to avoid exceeding
maximum distance restrictions (typically for E-
1s, E-3s, T-1s and T-3s)
Install separate racks for Fiber, UTP, and
coaxial cable distribution

IEEE 802.3 HSSG

Horizontal Distribution Area
Location of Horizontal Cross-Connect (HC),
the distribution point for cabling to equipment
distribution area
Distribution LAN, SAN, KVM switches and
console servers located in HDA
MDA may also include an HC for nearby
equipment distribution area
Number of HDAs depends on the density of
cabling and the size of the data center

IEEE 802.3 HSSG

Horizontal Distribution Area
The capacity of the cable tray system and the
size of the cross-connect creates practical
limits on the size of the HC
Guideline is maximum of 2,000 4-pair UTP or
coax cable terminations per HDA
Arrange patch bays to minimize patch cable
lengths and to simplify cable management
Separate racks for fiber, UTP, and coax
Locate switches and patch panels to
minimize patch cord lengths

IEEE 802.3 HSSG

 Zone Distribution Area
Rack, cabinet, or under floor enclosure that houses a
zone outlet (ZO) or consolidation point (CP)
ZO - structured cabling termination for floor-standing
equipment that cannot accept patch panels (e.g.
mainframes and large servers).
CP - intermediate termination point (e.g. cabling to
areas where floor plan is uncertain or dynamic)
No cross-connects within the ZDA
No active equipment shall be located in the ZDA
Maximum of 144 connections in a ZDA
Maximum of one ZDA within a horizontal cable run

IEEE 802.3 HSSG

Equipment Cabinets
Front rails of cabinets
must be recessed to
provide adequate room
for patch cables and
wire managers
Recommend 1-to-1
ratio of patching to
cable management
Arrange switches and
patch panels to
minimize patching
between cabinets &
racks
Perforated tiles at front
of cabinets
One edge of cabinets
placed at edge of tile
IEEE 802.3 HSSG
 Raised Floor
Better appearance than overhead cabling.
Allows higher power densities, better control
of cooling, and more flexibility in location of
cooling equipment
Most stand-alone computer systems are
designed for cabling from below
Coordinate under floor cabling with
mechanical & electrical engineers
Recommend wire basket cable trays in hot
aisles for telecom cabling

IEEE 802.3 HSSG

Example of Wire Basket Cable Trays
For Cabling Under Raised Floor
24"
RAISED FLOOR TILE 1.375"
DIVIDER
18"
9" 5"
COPPER
4"
FIBER CABLING
SUPPORT STRUT 1"

12" 18"
36"
5"
COPPER
4"
FIBER CABLING
SUPPORT STRUT 1"

Open Area
13.5"

24"
On Center

IEEE 802.3 HSSG

 Overhead Cable Trays
Less expensive than raised floor systems
Cable trays can be attached to the top of
racks and cabinets (if they are uniform in
height)
Cable trays suspended from the ceiling
provides more flexibility for supporting
cabinets/racks of various heights and for
adding and removing cabinets/racks.
Cable trays can be installed with several
layers
Coordinate location with lighting, ducts,
overhead conduits, overhead power
distribution IEEE 802.3 HSSG
Overhead Cable Tray Example
3 Layer cable tray system:
Bottom layer signal
Middle layer power
Top layer fiber
Signal Reference Grid in
brackets attached to lower
layer of trays
Fiber patch cables may be
in fiber duct attached to
threaded rods

IEEE 802.3 HSSG

Infrastructure Administration
Informative annex with TIA-606-A standards
compliant labeling scheme for all
components.
Labeling scheme extended for use in data
centers
Cabinets and racks labeled by location using
tile grid or row/position identifiers
All cabinets, racks, patch panels, cables, and
patch cords should be labeled

IEEE 802.3 HSSG

 Labeling Example "X" COORDINATE
AA AB AC AD AE AF AG AH AI AJ AK AL AM AN AO AP AQ AR AS AT AU AV AW AX AY AZ BA BB BC BD

01

02
Cat 6 x 24
03

04

05

06
RIGHT
FRONT
07
CORNER CABINET AQ03
08 CABINET AJ05
09

10

11

12

13

"Y" COORDINATE

Patch Panel for 24 Cat 6 from 1st Panel in Cab AJ05 to 2nd Panel in Cab AQ03
AJ05-A to AQ03-B Ports 01-24
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

A A

IEEE 802.3 HSSG

Site Selection
Informative annex with guidelines for
selection of a site for a data center
Architectural
Electrical
Mechanical
Telecommunications
Security
Other

IEEE 802.3 HSSG

Facilities Specifications & Tiers
Informative annex with general architectural,
structural, electrical, mechanical, and
telecommunications recommendations requirements
Annex includes detailed architectural, security,
electrical, mechanical, and telecommunications
recommendations for each Tier
Recommended specifications by tier are a uniform
way to rate aspects of a data center design and are a
starting point for initiating design requirements with
qualified architects and engineers

IEEE 802.3 HSSG

Data Center Tiers
Tier 1 basic data center
no redundancy
Tier 2 redundant components
Single distribution path with redundant
components
Tier 3 concurrently maintainable
Multiple distribution paths with only one
active
Tier 4 fault tolerant
Multiple active distribution paths

IEEE 802.3 HSSG

 Redundant Topologies
Carriers Carriers Carriers Carriers

Secondary
Primary Customer
Customer
Maintenance Hole
Maintenance Hole
(Tier 1 and higher)
(Tier 2 and higher)
Tie
r3

Tier 1

Tier 3
2
Data Center Tier

Primary Entrance Tier 3 Secondary

Room Entrance Room
(Tier 1 and higher) (Tier 3 and higher)

Tie
r4

Tier 1

Tier 4
Offices, Operations
Center, Support r3
Rooms Tie

Secondary Dist
Main Dist Area
Telecom Room Tier 4 Area
(Tier 1 and higher)
(Optional for Tier 4)

Computer
Room
Horiz Dist Area

Optional Horiz Dist Area Horiz Dist Area

Cabling Zone Dist Area

Equip Dist Equip Dist Equip Dist

Area Area Area

IEEE 802.3 HSSG

Data Center Tiers
Higher tiers correspond to higher availability, but also
have higher construction costs
Data Center can have different tier ratings for
different portions of its infrastructure (architectural,
security, mechanical, electrical, telecommunications)
The overall rating for the data center is equal to the
lowest tier rating
Capacity of systems may need to be upgraded to
maintain tier rating as data center load increases
Human error and operating procedures have a major
impact on availability

IEEE 802.3 HSSG

Conclusion
TIA-942 is the first standard to specifically addresses data
center infrastructure.
Primarily a telecom infrastructure standard, but about half
of the content deals with facility requirements.
Provides a flexible and manageable structured cabling
system using standard media.
Builds on existing standards, when applicable
Guidelines on a wide range of subjects useful to someone
designing or managing a data center.
An official tiering standard for determining the quality of a
center. A way to objectively compare one center with
another.

IEEE 802.3 HSSG