Has anyone actually verified a certificate with Uptime Institute directly? I tried once, the provider gave me a cert number, UI said "that certificate expired in 2021." Provider claimed "renewal is in process." That was 18 months ago.
Tier III on the wall vs Tier III in reality
Rob34 said:
UI said "that certificate expired in 2021"
You can check certificate numbers at uptimeinstitute.com/tiers. If they won't give you the number, that's the answer. I've had two providers refuse. One said "proprietary." The other said "we're transitioning to a new certification body." Neither is a real thing.
It's always DNS. Always.
RanggaDass
Member
Jakarta perspective: most local buyers don't even know Uptime Institute exists. They see "Tier III" on a website and think it's like a hotel star rating. The providers here know this. I've seen "Tier III" slapped on a single-floor office building with one utility feed.
Brenda
Member
Istanbul same. I work with small business clients, they ask me to find "Tier III hosting." I have to explain that without verification it's just a sticker. They don't want to hear it. The sticker is cheaper than real redundancy.
Following this. My current provider claims Tier III, I've never asked for the cert number. Will report back.
Same here.
pavel_train
Member
FlowSana said:
Uptimeinstitute.com/tiers
The Unix philosopher in me wants a whois for datacenter claims. Something machine-readable. Instead we have PDF certificates and sales engineers who disappear after signature.
Dubai is full of "Tier III" claims. I visited one facility, they had a beautiful glass-walled server room, no raised floor, and the CRAC units were residential-grade splits from a brand I use in my apartment. The tour guide said "Tier III certified" three times. I left.
HeadRich said:
No raised floor
That's not automatically disqualifying. Aisle containment with overhead cooling is valid. But residential splits, yeah, that's a problem.
astro03 said:
Overhead cooling is valid
Fair. The splits were the problem. Also they had one electrical room, no segregation. I asked about concurrent maintainability and got a blank look.