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EXIN CDCE study materials
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EXIN CDCE: Data centre standards and compliance

EXIN CDCE · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

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Data centre standards and compliance

Domain 3 - Data centre standards and compliance. The exam tests two skills: knowing what each standard actually covers, and mapping a client or regulatory requirement to a standard, a class and a piece of evidence.

Who covers what

  • ANSI/TIA-942 - rated-1 to rated-4 infrastructure, covering site, architecture, electrical, mechanical, telecommunications, security and, in later revisions, operational topics.
  • Uptime Institute Tier Standard - Tier I–IV Topology, plus a separate Operational Sustainability standard; certification comes from third-party audit, not design documents alone.
  • EN 50600 series - European; part 1 concepts, part 2-x design (power, environmental control, telecom cabling, security), part 3-x management and operational information, part 4-x KPIs; availability and protection classes 1–4.
  • ISO/IEC 22237 mirrors EN 50600 internationally; ISO/IEC 30134 defines KPIs such as PUE.
  • BICSI 002 for design and implementation practice; ASHRAE TC 9.9 for thermal envelopes and equipment classes A1–A4.
  • Management systems: ISO/IEC 27001 (information security, including physical controls), ISO/IEC 20000-1 (IT service management), ISO 22301 (continuity), ISO 50001 (energy).
  • Regulation: EU Directive 2023/1791 (EED), Article 12, obliges operators of data centres above 500 kW installed IT power to report energy and sustainability data annually; the EU Code of Conduct is voluntary. National building, electrical, fire and environmental law always overrides best practice.

Worked example

A tender states: "Tier III, EN 50600 availability class 3, ISO/IEC 27001 certified."

  • Tier III / rated-3 means concurrently maintainable, no shutdown for planned maintenance, dual-corded IT, at least N+1 in each path.
  • EN 50600 availability class 3 expresses the same intent in European terms; protection classes cover security and fire separately.
  • ISO/IEC 27001 requires a scoped ISMS with physical security controls; a certificate is valid only for the stated scope and site.
  • Evidence to request: audit certificate with scope, current design documents, integrated systems test results, and the EED reporting history.

Traps that cost marks

  • Quoting a tier as an uptime percentage, or mixing Uptime Tiers and TIA rated levels in one sentence.
  • Claiming Tier IV from 2N power while the cooling path is not fault tolerant.
  • Treating a standard as self-certification; certification means an accredited audit of the built, operating facility.
  • Quoting nameplate PUE instead of a measured annual value under a defined KPI method.
  • Ignoring local codes and applicable reporting duties.