ISO/IEC 22237-1:2021 PDF

Overview

ISO/IEC 22237-1:2021 - Information technology - Data centre facilities and infrastructures - Part 1: General concepts - defines the foundational principles for designing, building and operating data centre facilities and infrastructure. It establishes common terminology, reference models (functional elements and accommodation), and a classification system based on the key criteria of availability, physical security, and energy-efficiency over the planned lifetime of the data centre. The standard also outlines business risk and operating cost analysis and provides high-level guidance on operation and management information.

Keywords: ISO/IEC 22237-1:2021, data centre facilities, data center infrastructure, data centre design, availability, energy efficiency, physical security, classification system

Key Topics and Technical Requirements

• Terminology and reference models: Common definitions and functional elements to ensure consistent interpretation across projects and organizations.
• Classification system: A framework to classify data centres by availability, security and energy-efficiency enablement, used to align facilities and infrastructure with business requirements.
• Business risk & operating cost analysis: Guidance on business impact analysis and risk assessment to determine appropriate classification and infrastructure investment.
• Design and implementation process: A structured design lifecycle (Strategy → Objectives → Specifications → Design → Decision → Functional design → Approval → Final design/project plan → Contract → Construction → Operation).
• Design principles: High-level principles addressing energy-efficiency, electromagnetic considerations, operational excellence, availability, reliability and resilience.
• Facilities and infrastructure scope: Covers building construction, power distribution, environmental control, telecommunications cabling and physical security as they relate to meeting classification targets and operational needs.
• Out of scope: Selection/configuration of IT and network equipment, quantitative multi-site availability analysis, and safety/EMC requirements (these are covered by other standards and regulations).

Practical Applications and Who Uses It

ISO/IEC 22237-1:2021 is practical for:

• Data centre owners and operators defining service levels and CAPEX/OPEX trade-offs.
• Facility managers, ICT managers and project managers planning capacity, resilience and energy objectives.
• Architects, building designers, system integrators, and consultants who translate availability and security requirements into building and MEP designs.
• Contractors, equipment suppliers, installers, auditors and commissioning agents working on procurement, construction and operation.

Use cases include classification-driven design, business impact and risk assessments, procurement specifications, and aligning operational KPIs (including references to ISO/IEC 30134 KPI series) with facility design.

Related Standards

• ISO/IEC 22237 series (Parts 2–7) - detailed requirements for Building construction, Power distribution, Environmental control, Telecommunications cabling, Security systems, and Management/operational information.
• ISO/IEC 30134 series - Key Performance Indicators for data centres (referenced for operational metrics).

ISO/IEC 22237-1:2021 is the conceptual foundation for consistent, resilient and energy-aware data centre infrastructure design and management.