ISO/IEC 22237-1:2021

INTERNATIONAL ISO/IEC
STANDARD 22237-1
First edition
2021-10
Information technology — Data centre
facilities and infrastructures —
Part 1:
General concepts
Technologie de l’information — Installation et infrastructures de
centres de traitement de données —
Partie 1: Concepts généraux
Reference number
© ISO/IEC 2021
© ISO/IEC 2021
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, or required in the context of its implementation, no part of this publication may
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© ISO/IEC 2021 – All rights reserved

Contents Page
Foreword .v
Introduction . vi
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms, definitions and abbreviated terms . 1
3.1 Terms and definitions . 1
3.2 Abbreviated terms . 5
4 Conformance . 6
5 Business risk analysis . 6
5.1 General . 6
5.2 Business impact analysis. 7
5.3 Risk analysis . 7
6 Data centre design overview . 9
6.1 General . 9
6.2 Spaces and facilities . 9
7 Classification system for the design of data centre facilities and infrastructures .12
7.1 General .12
7.2 Availability . 12
7.2.1 General .12
7.2.2 Single-site data centres .12
7.2.3 Multi-site data centres . 14
7.3 Physical security .15
7.3.1 General .15
7.3.2 Protection against unauthorized access . 15
7.3.3 Protection against intrusion. 15
7.3.4 Protection against environmental events . 15
7.4 Energy efficiency enablement . 16
7.4.1 General . 16
7.4.2 Power distribution system . 17
7.4.3 Environmental monitoring and control. 17
7.4.4 Operational processes and KPIs . 17
8 Design and implementation process .17
8.1 Introduction . 17
8.2 Design phases . 18
8.2.1 Phase 1 — Strategy . 18
8.2.2 Phase 2 — Objectives . 18
8.2.3 Phase 3 — System specifications . 19
8.2.4 Phase 4 — Design proposal . 19
8.2.5 Phase 5 — Decision . 19
8.2.6 Phase 6 — Functional design . 20
8.2.7 Phase 7 — Approval . 20
8.2.8 Phase 8 — Final design and project plan. 20
8.2.9 Phase 9 — Contract . 20
8.2.10 Phase 10 — Construction . 20
8.2.11 Phase 11 — Operation .20
9 Design principles .20
9.1 Design reference documentation . 20
9.2 Design principles to support energy efficiency . 21
9.3 Design principles for electromagnetic interference . 21
9.4 Design principles to support operational excellence . 21
9.5 Design principles for availability, reliability and resilience. 21
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© ISO/IEC 2021 – All rights reserved

Annex A (informative) Availability and Reliability .23
Annex B (informative) Availability description .28
Bibliography .29
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© ISO/IEC 2021 – All rights reserved

Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical
Commission) form the specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies that are
members of ISO or IEC participate in the development of International Standards through technical
committees established by the respective organization to deal with particular fields of technical
activity. ISO and IEC technical committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other international
organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO and IEC, also take part in the
work.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance
are described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria
needed for the different types of document should be noted. This document was drafted in
accordance with the editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives or
www.iec.ch/members_experts/refdocs).
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject
of patent rights. ISO and IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent
rights. Details of any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the
Introduction and/or on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www.iso.org/patents) or the IEC
list of patent declarations received (see patents.iec.ch).
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and
expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to
the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) see
www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html. In the IEC, see www.iec.ch/understanding-standards.
This document was prepared by Joint Technical Committee ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology,
Subcommittee SC 39, Sustainability, IT & Data Centres.
This first edition cancels and replaces the first edition (ISO/IEC TS 22237-1:2018), which has been
technically revised.
The main changes are as follows:
— reference to Key Performance Indicators of ISO/IEC 30134 series has been included;
— Clause 7 (Availability) has been revised;
— the design processes (Clause 8) and design principles (Clause 9) have been moved from an annex to
the main body of the document;
— the existing Annex A has been removed;
— new Annexes A and B have been added.
A list of all parts in the ISO/IEC 22237 series can be found on the ISO and IEC websites.
Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards
body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html and
www.iec.ch/national-committees.
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© ISO/IEC 2021 – All rights reserved

Introduction
The unrestricted access to internet-based information demanded by the information society has led to
an exponential growth of both internet traffic and the volume of stored/retrieved data. Data centres
are housing and supporting the information technology and network telecommunications equipment
for data processing, data storage and data transport. They are required both by network operators
(delivering those services to
...