02 June 2021
Netia’s Data Center in Jawczyce with EN 50600 certificate
The state-of-the-art Netia’s Data Center Mind in Jawczyce near Warsaw has been certified in accordance with the EN 50600 European standard. This is the first DC facility operating in the Warsaw agglomeration to meet this very demanding and comprehensive standard. Why is it worth using such a certified facility?
Due to the availability of power, many Data Center facilities, especially those built years ago, are located in industrial areas. Ordinary warehouse halls used to be adapted for the needs of collocation facilities. Currently, such a location would preclude certification. In the past, this was not an obstacle as the focus was on the main requirements of the standards, such as power redundancy, while others, such as those related to localization, were overlooked. Hence, there is no shortage of DC facilities next to gas stations or railroad tracks.
Nowadays, the awareness that safety is a resultant of many “nuances” is increasingly breaking through in the minds of customers. Various studies show that for about 40 percent of companies, certification (right after total cost of ownership) is a key factor in choosing a DC facility.
The European standard comes first
But ‘standard’ does not always mean the same... In recent years, more and more companies that offer commercial DC services decide to certify newly built facilities in accordance with the EN 50600 standard which replaces among others the popular TIER.
EN 50600 is an official standard of the European Union countries that was developed by CENELEC (European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization) and adopted by the European Commission, and then ratified by the EU member states, including the Polish Committee for Standardization, as PN/EN-50600 standard.
Importantly, the standards that make up EN 50600 cover all areas related to the construction, operation and use of data centers. This is probably the reason why EN 50600 appears in many guidelines, including the Polish Financial Supervisory Authority’s communication on cloud computing by supervised entities. The EN 50600 standard is also mentioned in Resolution No. 97 of the Council of Ministers of September 11, 2019, which relates to the “Common State Information Infrastructure” initiative.
Currently, in Poland there are 4 operating DC facilities certified in accordance with EN 50600 standard, including the facility in Netia’s DC Mind, the only one in the Warsaw area. Two Warsaw facilities of other large telecommunications operators are also being prepared for European certification.
In EN 50600 there are 4 certification levels (Class 1, 2, 3, 4). Netia’s Data Center in Jawczyce (DC Mind) is certified as Class 3 but many elements of the infrastructure were made in standard four.
Other certifications for DCs found in this type of facility in our market are:
• Uptime Institute, or popular in Poland “TIER” (there are 4 levels of certification namely TIER I, II, III, IV; in Poland the most popular one is TIER III), focuses on power and cooling infrastructure, omitting the issues of physical security or network infrastructure. It was developed by a private for-profit organization.
• ANSI TIA-942 (also 4 levels, called ratings) is an American public standard developed by the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) and later adopted by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). TIA does not maintain any accreditation of auditing firms. The association only authorizes companies to provide training on its standards.
• EPI-DCOS (Data Centre Operations Standard) focuses on the principles of Data Centre operation and maintenance. Unlike other standards, it does not specify guidelines for building a data center.
Nowadays, the awareness that safety is a resultant of many “nuances” is increasingly breaking through in the minds of customers. Various studies show that for about 40 percent of companies, certification (right after total cost of ownership) is a key factor in choosing a DC facility.
The European standard comes first
But ‘standard’ does not always mean the same... In recent years, more and more companies that offer commercial DC services decide to certify newly built facilities in accordance with the EN 50600 standard which replaces among others the popular TIER.
EN 50600 is an official standard of the European Union countries that was developed by CENELEC (European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization) and adopted by the European Commission, and then ratified by the EU member states, including the Polish Committee for Standardization, as PN/EN-50600 standard.
Importantly, the standards that make up EN 50600 cover all areas related to the construction, operation and use of data centers. This is probably the reason why EN 50600 appears in many guidelines, including the Polish Financial Supervisory Authority’s communication on cloud computing by supervised entities. The EN 50600 standard is also mentioned in Resolution No. 97 of the Council of Ministers of September 11, 2019, which relates to the “Common State Information Infrastructure” initiative.
Currently, in Poland there are 4 operating DC facilities certified in accordance with EN 50600 standard, including the facility in Netia’s DC Mind, the only one in the Warsaw area. Two Warsaw facilities of other large telecommunications operators are also being prepared for European certification.
In EN 50600 there are 4 certification levels (Class 1, 2, 3, 4). Netia’s Data Center in Jawczyce (DC Mind) is certified as Class 3 but many elements of the infrastructure were made in standard four.
Other certifications for DCs found in this type of facility in our market are:
• Uptime Institute, or popular in Poland “TIER” (there are 4 levels of certification namely TIER I, II, III, IV; in Poland the most popular one is TIER III), focuses on power and cooling infrastructure, omitting the issues of physical security or network infrastructure. It was developed by a private for-profit organization.
• ANSI TIA-942 (also 4 levels, called ratings) is an American public standard developed by the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) and later adopted by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). TIA does not maintain any accreditation of auditing firms. The association only authorizes companies to provide training on its standards.
• EPI-DCOS (Data Centre Operations Standard) focuses on the principles of Data Centre operation and maintenance. Unlike other standards, it does not specify guidelines for building a data center.
