EPI Data Centre Associate flashcards
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32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.
- PUE definition
- Power usage effectiveness equals total facility energy divided by IT equipment energy over the same period. A value of 1.0 is theoretical perfection; typical well-run facilities sit between 1.2 and 1.6.
- Tier III concurrency
- Tier III requires concurrent maintainability: any capacity component or distribution path can be serviced or replaced without shutting down the IT load, though a fault may still cause an outage.
- Tier IV fault tolerance
- Tier IV adds fault tolerance to concurrent maintainability, meaning a single worst-case failure of any component or path causes no impact on the IT load.
- 2N redundancy
- Two complete independent capacity sets, each capable of carrying the full IT load alone. Failure or maintenance of one set leaves the other fully operational.
- Hot aisle containment
- Physical enclosure of the hot exhaust aisle so heated air returns directly to the cooling units, preventing mixing with cold supply air and improving cooling efficiency.
- ASHRAE recommended envelope
- The recommended operating range for IT equipment inlet air: roughly 18 to 27 degrees Celsius dry-bulb with humidity controlled to limit electrostatic discharge and corrosion.
- DCiE formula
- Data centre infrastructure efficiency is the reciprocal of PUE, calculated as IT equipment energy divided by total facility energy and expressed as a percentage.
- UPS efficiency losses
- Double-conversion UPS systems typically lose 3 to 6 percent of input power as heat. Eco or line-interactive modes reduce losses but may reduce ride-through and power quality.
- ANSI/TIA-942
- A telecommunications infrastructure standard for data centres that defines spaces, cabling, redundancy and availability, and assigns Rated-1 to Rated-4 ratings through assessment.
- ISO/IEC 22237 series
- An international series specifying data centre facility and infrastructure requirements, covering design, build, and operation with availability and efficiency classifications.
- EN 50600 series
- European standards for data centres covering building construction, power distribution, environmental control, cabling, and operation, with defined availability and protection classes.
- ISO/IEC 27001
- The international standard for an information security management system. Certification requires an accredited auditor to assess controls, risk treatment, and continual improvement.
- Clean agent suppression
- Fire suppression using gaseous agents such as FM-200, Novec 1230, or inert gases that extinguish fire without leaving residue, safe for occupied IT spaces at design concentrations.
- PCI DSS physical security
- Requires cardholder data environments to restrict physical access, log entry and exit, retain audit logs at least 12 months with 3 months immediately available, and review logs.
- CCTV retention period
- Common data centre practice and many audit frameworks require video surveillance recordings to be retained for a defined period, often a minimum of 90 days.
- Certification versus compliance
- Certification is third-party attestation against a standard; compliance means meeting a standard's requirements and may be self-declared or verified without formal certificate.
- Method of procedure
- A MOP is a written, approved, step-by-step script for a specific non-routine task, including prerequisites, sequence, verification steps, and a rollback plan.
- Change management record
- Documentation of a change including request, risk assessment, approval, implementation and rollback plans, schedule, and post-implementation review confirming success.
- Generator load test
- Periodic verification that standby generators can carry rated load. Monthly exercise runs plus annual load-bank testing confirm capacity, fuel consumption, and cooling performance.
- UPS battery end of life
- VRLA batteries are typically replaced when measured capacity falls below 80 percent of rated capacity or impedance trends indicate degradation, often at 3 to 5 years.
- Two-person rule
- A control requiring two authorized individuals to be present for critical operations or access to sensitive areas, reducing insider risk and enabling independent verification.
- P1 incident definition
- The highest severity level: a total outage, major customer impact, or loss of redundancy with no compensating control, requiring immediate escalation and response.
- Infrared thermography
- A non-contact inspection method that detects abnormal heat in electrical connections and panels, revealing loose terminations or overloaded circuits before failure occurs.
- Environmental alarm thresholds
- Configured limits for temperature, humidity, water detection, and smoke that trigger alerts to operations staff before conditions breach equipment operating envelopes.
- Recovery time objective
- RTO is the maximum acceptable time to restore a service after disruption. It drives DR architecture choices such as hot standby, warm standby, or backup restore.
- Recovery point objective
- RPO is the maximum acceptable amount of data loss measured in time. It determines replication frequency, backup intervals, and whether synchronous replication is needed.
- Risk treatment options
- Four standard responses to identified risk: avoid the activity, mitigate with controls, transfer via insurance or contract, or accept and document the residual risk.
- Risk register contents
- A log recording each risk with identifier, description, likelihood, impact, inherent score, controls, residual score, owner, and review date for governance tracking.
- Availability percentage math
- 99.9 percent allows about 8.76 hours downtime per year; 99.99 percent about 52.6 minutes; 99.999 percent about 5.26 minutes, calculated against total annual minutes.
- Business impact analysis
- A structured assessment identifying critical business processes, their dependencies, and the financial and operational consequences of disruption, producing RTO and RPO targets.
- DR test cadence
- Common governance expectation: tabletop exercises annually, functional component tests at least annually, and full failover tests every one to two years or per business requirement.
- Vendor SLA components
- A service level agreement should define availability percentage, measurement window and method, exclusions, reporting obligations, remedies or credits, and review frequency.