A building full of cabinets that cannot lose power for a second. We bring power to every cabinet by two separate paths: if one drops, the other carries on. We build, test and maintain both paths with the room powered: the same way we work at an airport with flights.
The incoming supply and the room's panels, kept separate from the rest of the building.
We build the room's distribution boards to EN 61439, with protection coordinated so a fault only trips its own circuit. Every circuit is metered. The room gets its own board, separate from the rest of the building.
Batteries and a generator so the room keeps running when the power goes off.
We size the UPS and the generator to what the IT equipment draws and how long it has to hold out. Switching from mains to generator is automatic. We run a battery discharge test and start the generator under load.
Every server cabinet gets its power by two routes.
We distribute power row by row with PDUs, the power strips inside the cabinets, and with prefabricated busway with plug-in tap-offs. Every rack gets two feeds, A and B.
Protection so a lightning strike or a voltage surge does not damage the equipment.
We install the room's earthing mesh and bond every metal part together, to EN 50310. And we protect it against lightning and surges to IEC 62305.
The room's data cabling, tidy and tested with our own equipment.
We run Category 6A cable and OM4 or OS2 fibre, and certify it with our own tester to EN 50173 and EN 50174. We also build the hot and cold aisles and the access control.
We prove everything survives a power cut before the room goes live, and we check it afterwards.
Before the room goes live we test it level by level. They run from 1, the factory tests, to 5, with every system together and a simulated mains failure. After that, every service visit includes thermography and a power analyser.
The electrical side of a data room is designed to its availability class, not its size. We work to the three industry references: Uptime Institute (Tier I to IV), EN 50600 (classes 1 to 4) and TIA-942 (Rated 1 to 4).
| Tier I Class 1 | Single power path, no redundancy. Basic UPS and generator; any maintenance means shutting down. |
| Tier II Class 2 | Redundant components (N+1) on a single path: N+1 UPS, generator with automatic transfer. |
| Tier III Class 3 | Concurrently maintainable: two distribution paths, one active and one standby, static transfer switches, every rack fed from A and B. Any equipment can be maintained without stopping the room. |
| Tier IV Class 4 | Fault tolerant: two complete systems active at once (2N), compartmentalised fault zones. A single fault never reaches the load. |
The yearly downtime figures often quoted (28.8 h · 22 h · 1.6 h · 26 min) are indicative: Uptime Institute removed them from the standard in 2009. What counts is the path design and how it is operated.
A Tier III is concurrently maintainable: two distribution paths, one active and one standby, and any component can be maintained without stopping the room. A Tier IV is also fault tolerant: both paths are active at once (2N), with separate fault zones, and a single fault does not affect the load.
N is the capacity the load needs. N+1 adds one spare unit: three UPS where two would do. 2N duplicates the whole system: two independent chains of supply, UPS, boards and PDU feeding every rack from A and B.
A technical room is a company's own data room: a few racks with UPS, cooling, certified cabling and access control. A data centre is a dedicated facility, with a defined availability class, redundant electrical distribution and a generator. We do both with the same criteria.
Yes. Work is planned by supply path, redundancy is checked before touching anything, and thermography and power analysis are taken before and after. It is the same way we work at an airport in operation.
| Availability | EN 50600 · TIA-942 · Uptime Institute Tier I to IV |
| Switchboards | EN 61439 parts 1 to 8 · EN 60947 (switchgear) |
| IT cabling | EN 50173 · EN 50174-2 and 3 · EN 50310 |
| Earthing and lightning | EN 50522 · IEC 62305 |
| Cables | CPR EN 50575 · IEC 60332-1 and 3 |
| Low voltage | REBT (RD 842/2002) and ITC-BT instructions · OCA inspections |
ETEAL describes what it does and the standards it works to. It does not claim to have certified any data centre at any level.
We work to these standards and hold the installer registrations. The full list, with the registrations and what each standard requires, is in Standards and registrations.
Tap a photo to see the job from the inside: what was asked, how it was done and what was installed.
