TIA-942 explained

The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) ANSI/TIA-942-B Telecommunications Infrastructure Standard for Data Centers^[1] is an American National Standard (ANS) that specifies the minimum requirements for data center infrastructure and is often cited by companies such as ADC Telecommunications^[2] and Cisco Systems.^[3] The standard was updated with an addendum ANSI/TIA-942-B-1 in February 2022 from the TR-42.1 Engineering Committee.^[4]

The Telecommunications Industry Association offers TIA-942 certification programs^[5] through TIA-licensed certification bodies that assess and certify compliance to the TIA-942 standard.

In June 2021, the TIA TR-42.1 Engineering Committee voted to start the revision process of ANSI/TIA-942-B.^[6] The standard will undergo updates during 2022. The new version of ANSI/TIA-942 which will be labelled as ANSI/TIA-942-C is expected to be released in 2023.

The ANSI/TIA-942-B specification references private and public domain data center requirements for data center infrastructure elements such as:

• Network architecture
• Electrical design
• Mechanical systems
• System redundancy for electrical, mechanical and telecommunication
• Fire safety
• Physical security
• Efficiency

Newer revisions

As of August 2021, TIA has released a licensing scheme for TIA-942 audits. TIA has laid down specific criteria for organizations who wish to conduct 3rd party external audits. Once fulfilled they will be licensed as a CAB - Conformity Assessment Body. Data centers conforming to the TIA-942 standard are listed on the website; https://tiaonline.org/942-datacenters/.

Notes and References

1. Web site: TIA-942 Standard . 18 August 2022 . TIA online . TIA-942 Data Center Standard.
2. Web site: TIA-942 Data Center Standards Overview. January 31, 2006. ADC. https://web.archive.org/web/20131230235600/http://www.te.com/content/dam/te/global/english/industries/enterprise-network-solutions/knowledge-center/documents/enterprise-white-paper-tia-942-data-center-standards-overview-102264ae.pdf. December 30, 2013. dead. Dec 30, 2013.
3. Web site: Data Center Top-of-Rack Architecture Design . April 18, 2011 . Cisco Systems . White paper . July 10, 2013 . September 15, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120915232317/http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/switches/ps9441/ps9670/white_paper_c11-522337.pdf . dead .
4. Web site: TIA Publishes Addendum To Global Data Center Infrastructure Standard . 18 August 2022 . TIA online.
5. Web site: TIA-942 Certification . 18 August 2022 . TIA online.
6. Web site: TIA Issues Call For Interest On New Project For Telecommunications Infrastructure Standard For Data Centers . 18 August 2022 . TIA online.