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Thread: What are N+1/2/3/4 Datacenters?
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02-17-2009, 01:03 AM #1Danananana Danananana Batman!
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I've looked on the forums and Google, haven't been able to find much detailed information on this subject.
Would some people please expand this topic just a bit?
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02-17-2009, 01:16 AM #2noobie
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N+1 generally means that for as many pieces are needed for operation (UPS, generators, HVAC, etc.), there's one extra for redundancy. N+2 would be two extra.
Some also throw around 2N+1, which would be one extra for every two that are needed. That's really about it.
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02-17-2009, 04:12 AM #3Design and Hosting Solutions
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wouldnt that be double + 1. one extra for every two needed would be should be N+N/2 (also can be written as 3N/2)
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02-17-2009, 08:35 AM #4Web Hosting Master
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Correct 2N+1 is actually double the amount needed, then an extra as well. i.e. If you need 3 generators to run the facility if grid power goes, then you'd actually have 7 generators: (2 * 3) + 1 = 7
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02-17-2009, 10:57 PM #5Web Hosting Master
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N+1 is like RAID5
N+2 is like RAID6
2N is like RAID10 and so on
where N is a specific service, like AC, UPS, Generator - who knows what else...
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02-18-2009, 01:32 PM #6noobie
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wouldnt that be double + 1. one extra for every two needed would be should be N+N/2 (also can be written as 3N/2)
Yep, you're right. More coffee.
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09-10-2012, 02:13 PM #7Web Hosting Master
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09-10-2012, 02:38 PM #8Temporarily Suspended
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09-10-2012, 04:45 PM #9Web Hosting Master
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You'll also see references to Uptime Institute Tier ratings, which are much more closely defined than any 'N+' specs. These are (roughly speaking):
Tier 1 - no redundancy
Tier 2 - some redundancy but still single points of failure
Tier 3 - concurrently maintainable - ie you can power anything down for maintenance and there is enough redundancy to keep things running (colloquially, and not always accurately known as N+1).
Tier 4 - double everything - sufficient redundancy is built in such that even after powering something down for maintenance, there is still redundancy in the system (colloquially 2N, actually at least 2(N+1)).
Tier 1's are generally cheap and cheerful, basement type operations, Tier 2 covers more operators than you might imagine, or indeed that might admit to it! Personally I would say 'enterprise level' (if that means anything) starts at Tier 3. Tier 4 are normally used mainly by financials and governments as the cost is of course much higher than the lower Tiers.
The tier definitions are widely abused by data centre operators but still provide a good indication of resilience in a facility.Advania Thor Data Centre Iceland - www.thordc.com
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09-10-2012, 06:01 PM #10Web Hosting Master
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09-11-2012, 06:19 AM #11Junior Guru Wannabe
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09-11-2012, 02:41 PM #12Temporarily Suspended
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09-12-2012, 12:14 AM #13Web Hosting Master
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09-12-2012, 08:32 AM #14Junior Guru Wannabe
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Note what Brian_R clarified above. It's not 2n+1, but rather 2(n+1). As Brian explained above, it's about remaining redundancy when one line (or, most always, a component in that end to end line such as utility or generator or transfer switch or UPS or PDU or strip or cord) fails. With n+1 (Tier 3), there's a redundant line that keeps power flowing...but now that 2nd path stands alone and any of its components represents a single point of failure (but overall, a good level of redundancy). With 2(n+1) (tier 4), each component in each line is also redundant so that if a component fails or is removed from service, there is still total redundancy. Generally speaking, Tier 4 is twice the system of Tier 3 (and Tier 3 is already a lot).
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09-12-2012, 11:54 AM #15Junior Guru Wannabe
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to clarify, utility and generator are alternatives of the same component (power source) in each line
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09-12-2012, 03:08 PM #16Junior Guru Wannabe
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Not quite sure what you mean by this, but technically TUI doesn't even look at / care about utility service or infrastructure. they simply assume it's not there, and just look at support infrastructure.
this ultimately means you can have a Tier IV data center with only a single utility feed, as dumb as that is...
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09-12-2012, 04:47 PM #17THE Web Hosting Master
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But that isn't what was said, he said:
2*N+1 ≠ 2(N+1) What he said was the first, what he meant was the 2nd. I think you clarified it properly, but just pointing out what was actually said, probably just nit-picking at this point.
To note, I do agree with the general knowledge, being N+1 does NOT mean you're Tier 3, in case, MOST N+1 configurations would be Tier 2, and I would imagine the vast majority of facilities that WHT customers are in are Tier 1 and Tier 2. Tier 3 would meet most enterprise standards and Tier 4 is really only used for or needed for true mission critical uses, like financial exchanges, major banks banks, etc. that can afford spending twice as much on a facility to save 5 minutes a year (on average) of downtime. It upsets me when people throw around the terms without caring what they mean, like MediaTemple claims to be in Tier 4 facilities, yet they're in DuPont Fabros Facilities, which are possibly Tier 3, and certainly not Tier 4, as they have many N+2 (or similar redundancy level) services. DFT doesn't claim they're Tier 4, yet their customer does, with nothing to back that up. To be Tier 4 you can't just have some, or even most systems entirely concurrently maintainable and able to sustain failures, EVERY system needs to be able to.
Note: That is just one example, but there are MANY more.Karl Zimmerman - Founder & CEO of Steadfast
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02-14-2016, 05:19 PM #18Junior Guru Wannabe
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@KarlZimmer
2(N+1) = 2N+2
What tiers are your DCs?
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02-14-2016, 06:34 PM #19Web Hosting Master
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Sadly, this is very true.
Too many hosts will say "Oh look at us, we're 2N+1" when their only talking about 1 service, but leading customers to believe that they are talking about all services.
Your host can have 2N+1 power, but N+1 on data and only N cooling. This does not mean they are 2N+1!! Only their power is. The rest of the infrastructure still has gaps in redundance, that can bring your services offline.█ █ RDO Servers - Shared Hosting, Resellers, VPS, Dedicated Servers, & Secure Clusters
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02-14-2016, 07:58 PM #20Web Hosting Master
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02-14-2016, 10:25 PM #21Web Hosting Master
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Again this apply all the way up to the software stack.
Hosting in a fully redundant tier4 (2n+1) data center will not achieve higher uptime if your software cannot run in 2N+1 mode.
Many user deployed a single server in a tier4 data center and expect the server run 100% uptime, they forgot that the single server is the single point of failure.Alan Woo, alan [@] ne.com.sg
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02-15-2016, 08:41 PM #22THE Web Hosting Master
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02-16-2016, 03:47 AM #23Web Hosting Guru
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Tier's and N's dont really interpolate.
For example, a DC could be Tier II but still have 2N+1 UPS.
But if those UPS's are fed from the same panel having that feed split before its presented to your rack only protects you from UPS malfunction
Tier IV requires two independent feeds all the way, I.e 2N cables and switch boards.
As others have said have Tier IV 2N+1 redundancy in theory takes you to a statistically safer place than Tier III with 2N+1 but Tier III is quite reliable, even Tier II requires something to fail (which can be mitigated against if correctly managed).
Tier IV also doesn't guarantee any kind of connectivity quality, no point having 2N UPS and 1N connectivity.
Tier IV also don't help if there is a fire and the fire brigade turn up and shut down the whole facility before they'll put the fire out.
Finally, the Uptime institute award both design and operation separately, no point having 300 UPS's in no one knows how they work.
If you want true protection you need to be in two different locations with two different providers fully mirrored in real time ideally a good couple of hundred miles apart.
For >90% of applications Tier II is probably sufficient, Tier III is a good to have and Tier IV is an overkill.
My advise would be to ask questions of your provider.ServerHouse | Est 2001 | 3x UK Data centres | Roof access, satcoms | High density | DR as standard
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