structured testing
TEST RESULTS
A new data centre is expected to operate continuously for the design life of the facility. Even the shortest
outage to the power or cooling systems can be disastrous to the IT services operating in the data centre.
Equipment failure and replacement strategies must be included in the design and implementation.
Dave Wolfenden of HeatLoad explains how thorough testing of the data centre before it is handed
over will ensure the new facility meets up to expectations.
A
ny form of testing
needs to take a
structured approach.
It doesn’t matter
whether you are
testing software, hardware, a data
centre or doing the MOT on a car.
Without a structured approach it is
easy to miss things that could later
turn out to be a major challenge.
ASHRAE (American Society
of Heating, Refrigerating and Air40
Conditioning Engineers) defines five
levels of testing:
evel 1 – Factory acceptance
L
testing
evel 2 – Field component
L
verification
evel 3 – System Construction
L
verification
Level 4 – Site acceptance testing
evel 5 – Integrated System
L
Testing (IST)
Level 1 to 3 testing begins with
testing individual components at
the manufacturing plant; such as
fully testing a UPS. As construction
progresses, systems are tested
together to ensure all of the
components operate together as
a complete system, as designed.
Typically this level of testing utilises
large load banks located outside
of the IT space. For example, the
load banks test the load capacity of