EPI Data Centre Foundation case studies
EPI Data Centre Foundation · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The EPI Data Centre Foundation (DCF) is an entry-level credential in EPI's data centre certification portfolio. EPI describes itself as part of TÜV NORD GROUP and as a global certification body for data centre facilities, operations and professionals, and it states that it offers globally accredited courses developed to enhance skills related to data center design, operations and compliance. The EPI Data Centre Foundation case studies are 5 cases and about 3,931 words.
1The Tier III lease clause versus a plant with no standby pumps
An operator is building a 1.6 MW hall in Singapore for a customer that has written third-party Tier III certification into the lease. The design pack shows: a single 22 kV utility feeder from one substation; two 1,000 kW UPS modules configured 2N, each with its own battery string; one overhead busway per row with no A/B distribution to the racks; three 500 kW water-cooled chillers in N+1 on common headers; chilled-water pumps configured N with no installed standby; and the whole chilled-water plant fed from a single low-voltage switchboard.
842 words, about 4 min2The 'nothing failed' transfer test
A 2.2 MW data centre commissioned in 2017 runs two 1,500 kW diesel generators in N+1 with 48 hours of on-site fuel, and eight strings of VRLA batteries supporting 2N UPS. Maintenance records show monthly generator runs of 25 minutes at no load, no load-bank test since commissioning, annual fuel polishing but no fuel quality test since 2019, and battery impedance trending with no discharge test since 2018.
806 words, about 4 min3A four-year-old certificate, a self-audit and a manual bypass
The marketing page of a 5,000 square metre commercial data centre states 'TIA-942 Rated-4 Certified, fully fault tolerant'. The evidence pack you are given contains: a certificate issued four years ago to the design consultancy that also designed the electrical and mechanical systems; a scope statement naming 'Building A, design documents only'; no listing for Building B, commissioned eighteen months ago and sold under the same claim; no surveillance audit reports for the last two years; and one as-built deviation in Building A, where a single transfer pump sits between the day tanks and the generators.
722 words, about 4 min4The 500 kW signature the site cannot serve
You are site manager of a 2.4 MW facility with 60 percent of contracted capacity sold. Engineering assessment shows 380 kW of genuine spare capacity in Hall C after N+1 and at the design ambient, with no additional cooling available until the third quarter of next year.
786 words, about 4 min5The GPU pilot, the failed CRAH and the setpoint shortcut
A 900 square metre hall holds 40 racks at a design density of 8 kW, a total of 320 kW of IT load. Cooling comes from four chilled-water CRAHs rated 110 kW each, three duty and one standby, with hot-aisle containment and a 24 degrees C cold-aisle setpoint.
775 words, about 4 min