Exin-CDCP Exam Information and Guideline
EPI Certified Data Centre Professional (EPI-CDCP) - 2025
Below are complete topics detail with latest syllabus and course outline, that will help you good knowledge about exam objectives and topics that you have to prepare. These contents are covered in questions and answers pool of exam.
Number of Questions: 40 multiple-choice questions
Time Allotted: 1 hour (60 minutes)
Passing Marks: 27 out of 40 (67.5%)
Exam Format: Closed-book
Certification Validity: The CDCP certificate is valid for 3 years, after which recertification is required.
1. The Data Centre: Importance and Causes for Downtime
- Role of data centres in modern business (mission-critical operations).
- Common causes of downtime (e.g., power failure, cooling issues, human error).
- Impact of downtime on business continuity and reputation.
- Introduction to high-availability concepts.
- Availability: The degree to which a data centre is operational and accessible (e.g., uptime percentage, 99.999% "five nines").
- Downtime: Periods when the data centre is non-functional.
- Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF): Average time a system operates before failing.
- Mean Time To Repair (MTTR): Average time to restore a system after failure.
- Single Point of Failure (SPOF): A component whose failure disrupts the entire system.
- Business Continuity: Strategies to ensure uninterrupted operations.
2. Data Centre Standards and Best Practices
- Overview of global data centre standards (e.g., TIA-942, Uptime Institute Tiers, ISO).
- Compliance requirements for design and operations.
- Best practices for efficient and reliable data centre management.
- TIA-942: Telecommunications Industry Association standard for data centre design and infrastructure.
- Uptime Institute Tiers (I–IV): Classification of data centre reliability (Tier I: basic, Tier IV: fault-tolerant).
- ISO 27001: Standard for information security management systems.
- ISO 22301: Standard for business continuity management.
- ANSI/BICSI 002: Standard for data centre design and implementation.
- Redundancy: Duplication of critical components to enhance reliability (e.g., N+1, 2N).
3. Data Centre Location, Building, and Construction
- Site selection criteria (e.g., proximity to power grids, low natural disaster risk).
- Building design considerations (e.g., load-bearing capacity, expandability).
- Construction pitfalls to avoid (e.g., poor soil analysis, inadequate zoning).
- Site Selection: Process of choosing an optimal location based on power, connectivity, and risk factors.
- Geographical Risk: Threats like earthquakes, floods, or hurricanes affecting site suitability.
- Load Capacity: Maximum weight a building or floor can support (e.g., kN/m²).
- Zoning Regulations: Local laws governing data centre construction and operation.
- Greenfield vs. Brownfield: New (greenfield) vs. repurposed (brownfield) sites for construction.
4. Raised Floor and Suspended Ceiling
- Design and purpose of raised floors for cabling and cooling.
- Load definitions and floor strength requirements.
- Suspended ceilings for fire suppression and aesthetics.
- Raised Floor: Elevated flooring for underfloor cabling, cooling, and power distribution.
- Uniform Load: Evenly distributed weight across a floor (e.g., equipment racks).
- Concentrated Load: Weight focused on a small area (e.g., a single rack footprint).
- Rolling Load: Weight from moving equipment (e.g., during installation).
- Plenum Space: Area under raised floors or above ceilings used for air circulation or cabling.
- Static Dissipative Flooring: Flooring to prevent electrostatic discharge (ESD).
5. Power Infrastructure
- Components of a robust power system (e.g., UPS, generators, PDUs).
- Electrical distribution to avoid downtime.
- Energy efficiency strategies (e.g., renewable energy integration).
- Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS): Device providing backup power during outages.
- Power Distribution Unit (PDU): Device distributing power to racks and equipment.
- Automatic Transfer Switch (ATS): Switches power sources (e.g., grid to generator) seamlessly.
- Static Transfer Switch (STS): Transfers between power sources without interruption.
- Generator: Backup power source for extended outages (e.g., diesel, natural gas).
- Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE): Ratio of total facility power to IT equipment power (ideal: close to 1.0).
- Redundant Power Path: Dual power feeds to eliminate SPOFs.
6. Cooling Infrastructure
- Cooling technologies (e.g., CRAC units, liquid cooling).
- Hot and cold aisle containment for efficiency.
- Future-proofing cooling for increasing IT loads.
- Computer Room Air Conditioning (CRAC): Precision cooling for data centre environments.
- Computer Room Air Handler (CRAH): Cooling unit using chilled water systems.
- Hot Aisle/Cold Aisle: Layout separating hot exhaust air from cold intake air.
- Containment: Physical barriers to segregate hot and cold airflows.
- Coefficient of Performance (COP): Measure of cooling system efficiency.
- Free Cooling: Using ambient air or water to reduce mechanical cooling costs.
- Liquid Cooling: Direct cooling of IT equipment using liquid (e.g., immersion, direct-to-chip).
7. Fire Suppression and Safety
- Fire detection and suppression systems (e.g., gas-based, water-based).
- Safety protocols for personnel and equipment.
- Compliance with fire codes and standards.
- Fire Suppression System: Technologies to extinguish fires (e.g., FM-200, Inergen, sprinklers).
- Very Early Smoke Detection Apparatus (VESDA): High-sensitivity smoke detection.
- Clean Agent: Fire suppressant that leaves no residue (e.g., Novec 1230).
- NFPA 75: Standard for fire protection in IT environments.
- Clearance Space: Minimum distance required around sprinklers or gas nozzles.
- Emergency Power Off (EPO): System to shut down power in emergencies.
8. Racks and Physical Security
- Equipment rack design and load capacity.
- Physical and logical security measures (e.g., access control, surveillance).
- Cable management within racks.
- Equipment Rack: Standard 19-inch frame for mounting IT equipment (e.g., 42U height).
- Rack Unit (U): Standard height measurement (1U = 1.75 inches).
- Load Capacity: Maximum weight a rack can support (e.g., 1000 kg).
- Access Control: Systems like biometrics or keycards to restrict entry.
- CCTV: Closed-circuit television for monitoring.
- Cable Tray: Structure for organizing and routing cables.
9. Cabling Infrastructure
- Structured cabling standards (e.g., TIA-568).
- Copper vs. fibre optic cabling for connectivity.
- Testing and maintenance of cabling systems.
- TIA-568: Standard for twisted pair and fibre optic cabling.
- Category 6/6A (Cat6/6A): Copper cabling for high-speed Ethernet.
- Fibre Optic: High-bandwidth cabling using light signals (e.g., single-mode, multi-mode).
- Patch Panel: Centralized point for connecting network cables.
- Cable Management: Techniques to organize cables for airflow and accessibility.
- Bend Radius: Minimum curve radius to prevent cable damage.
10. Network Architecture
- Design of reliable and scalable network topologies.
- Redundancy in network infrastructure.
- Testing techniques for network performance.
- Topology: Network layout (e.g., star, spine-leaf).
- Redundancy: Backup network paths (e.g., dual-homed connections).
- Latency: Delay in data transmission.
- Bandwidth: Data transfer capacity (e.g., Gbps).
- Network Interface Card (NIC): Hardware for connecting devices to networks.
- Spine-Leaf Architecture: Scalable network design for data centres.
11. Monitoring and Management
- Tools for monitoring power, cooling, and IT equipment.
- Incident reporting and escalation procedures.
- Data centre infrastructure management (DCIM) systems.
- DCIM: Data Centre Infrastructure Management software for monitoring and optimization.
- Environmental Monitoring: Tracking temperature, humidity, and airflow.
- SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol): Protocol for device monitoring.
- Alert Threshold: Predefined limits triggering notifications (e.g., high temperature).
- Capacity Planning: Forecasting resource needs for future growth.
12. Operations and Maintenance
- Preventive maintenance schedules for power, cooling, and fire systems.
- Disaster recovery planning and recovery time objectives (RTOs).
- Documentation and standard operating procedures (SOPs).
- Preventive Maintenance: Routine checks to prevent failures (e.g., UPS battery testing).
- Disaster Recovery (DR): Strategies to restore operations after disruptions.
- Recovery Time Objective (RTO): Time to restore critical functions post-disaster.
- Recovery Point Objective (RPO): Acceptable data loss in a disaster.
- Standard Operating Procedure (SOP): Documented processes for routine tasks.
- Change Management: Controlled process for infrastructure updates.