Vodacom Tier 4 DC claims false

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Speaking of which i was in a meeting with a vodacom competitor who mentioned that despite what Vodacom say they not a tier 4 and just a tier 3. The presenter went into detail about why a tier 4 ISP is not financially viable in SA. Question was asked if there was a tier 4 ISP in SA and the response was that none of the commercial DC were tier 4 but they believe that one of the banks had built a fully fledge tier 4.

 

[Drunkard #1]

I still maintain that the article is inaccurate.

1. How does the Uptime Institute define "supplier", I can't find anything on their website, and I still assume this to mean the immediate supplier to the data centre, not the producer. The article uses the vague term "power provider". Does it mean producer, distributor or reseller?

2. We have multiple power producers in South Africa, we have multiple power distributors in South Africa, and we have multiple power resellers in South Africa. What exactly is stopping Vodacom from obtaining a second, independent supply?

3. If Vodacom can obtain a second supply, why does the article say that they CAN'T achieve tier 4 status. If they say that they haven't, then they haven't, but this doesn't mean they can't.

I might not be fully familiar with data center rating, but I am fully familiar with the interpretation of standards, and the design and supply of power systems. What exactly do you find inaccurate in my comments.

 

[diabolus]

Well standards are standards, they don't have to make sense, if you want to get accredited according to said standard then that's how it is [even if it's impossible to attain]. If you need to have purple bedsheets to attain 5 star status in the Hotel industry, then you can "engineer" bedsheets all you want, you can't claim to be a 5-star hotel without the purple bedsheets!

Vodacom is basically saying they are a 5-star hotel without actually getting official accreditation [i mean even the article mentions they would like to pursue official accrediation...*boggle*..yet they claim they are T4?] . If a hotel did that without getting accredited surely they will get sued/slapped? EVEN if they did have the purple bedsheets, you still can't say you're 5-star because you believe you are "technically" 5-star.

The best Vodacom can do is to do what was done with the Champagne vs. "Sparkling Wine" thing France enforced [same with Port i believe]. You can't say you're T4, but you can say your uptime is "99.995%" which may be identical to T4...but without using the term.