Four nines, five nines, six nines – the language of uptime, and the standard the data center industry is chasing today.
Resiliency in uptime has become a critical consideration where data center investors and end users are concerned. For years, though, it was treated as more of an afterthought, tacked on via diesel backup systems designed to cover outages. Capital was deployed without resiliency designed in from the outset, forming a reactive model that was neither secure nor cost-effective enough.
And that assumes grid connection can even be achieved in time. The US data center market is expanding faster than the electric grid can keep pace, leaving data center developers increasingly facing multi-year delays in grid interconnection. These holdups directly affect speed to revenue, pushing back opening dates and increasing financial risk.
By designing for resiliency upfront – where assets operate as prime power from day one and later transition into backup once utility supply is established – operators can avoid stranded capital and realize greater long-term value.
Where is the balance?
