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TRAINING & SKILLS
More than exams With all BICSI training , it ’ s not just a case of passing an exam and its job done . It ’ s essential to maintain knowledge gained from certification up to date . BICSI provides many opportunities for this via BICSI CONNECT Online learning , webinars , workshops and by holding conferences all of which attract CEC ’ s ( Continuing Educational Credits ) to provide evidence of ongoing learning . BICSI also produces a comprehensive suite of training and reference manuals to accompany training courses .
In April 2018 , BICSI hosted the first Data Centre Design Consultant ( DCDC ) certification training course in the UK . The DCDC certification is the culmination of a distance learning journey with stepping stones to enable entrants to start with both significant and minimal subject knowledge . Interestingly , most attendees were travelling from the far corners of Europe and the Middle East .
Given that the UK has more data centres than any other country in Europe , one might ask why the training course was not filled with UK Engineers . Perhaps a clue is given by the fact that the UK was an early European destination for data centres with good fibre links to the US and Europe . Data centre infrastructure design and operational certifications have long been offered by several private training companies that sprang up in the wake of this data centre revolution .
These training courses have evolved and adapted to the maturing market and are all generally reputable , providing students with a good appreciation of data centre infrastructure design criteria . They typically cover a broad range of knowledge in mechanical , electrical , computing and communication systems , as well as background in reliability , security and building considerations .
BICSI ’ s DC101 : Introduction to Data Centre Design is an online , self-paced course offering that covers the basics of data centre design . This includes : design concepts , criteria , systems , components , sustainability , commissioning and maintenance .
BICSI ’ s DC102 : Applied Data Centre Design and Best Practices is a classroom-based five-day course that focuses on practical applications of data centre design practices for both new and retrofit designs . The exam itself is a single , 100-question computer-based test that takes about two hours to complete .
Course standards These UK originating training courses generally follow the European standard EN 50600 , which consists of 10 parts – some 340 pages spanning different aspects of infrastructure from building construction to management and operation . The other major standard on the world stage is ANSI / BICSI 002-2014 . This is a single standard with 17 chapters , over 500 pages and similarly covers every aspect of infrastructure and is considered the foundation standard for data centre design around the world . BICSI DCDC has been developed in the US to go hand in hand with ANSI / BICSI 002-2014 , where it ’ s become the de-facto training for data centre Infrastructure practitioners , in a similar way that training from giants like Cisco and VMWare are considered essential for data centre architects .
The difference with the BICSI DCDC is that it ’ s vendor neutral . Since its inception , the DCDC programme has been established in the US , Europe , Middle East and SE Asia . Given that many of the major data centre companies are US based and have global footprints , it makes sense for serious data centre infrastructure planners , designers and operators to be equipped to work with both standards and understand their differences even though there will inevitably be significant alignment .
About BICSI DCDC certifications BICSI DCDC data centre certifications are vendor-neutral and based on two core study areas :
The range of topics covered include :
Design Methodology
Facilities , cabling , network , services ,& applications
Data Centre Service Outsourcing
Site selection and space planning
Modular and ‘ Container ’ data centres
Site services and hazards
Building , structural and architectural requirements
Electrical Systems
Utility to ITE power systems
Standby and backup power systems
DC power
Mechanical Systems
Security and Fire
Architectural . Electronic and operational security
Fire safety for chimney and aisle enclosures
DCIM and building systems
Telecommunications infrastructure
Hot and cold aisles
Cabinet airflow and cabling capacity
Network Infrastructure
Data centre commissioning and maintenance
Energy efficiency
Multi-site data centre architecture www . networkseuropemagazine . com