CenturyLink's Minneapolis-St. Paul Data Center is First and Only Colocation Facility in Minnesota to Earn Tier III Certification of Constructed Facility

Solidifies CenturyLink's Worldwide Commitment to Uptime Institute's Globally Recognized Certification Services

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEW YORK (July 16, 2014) – CenturyLink recently announced the opening of its newest data center in Minneapolis-St. Paul, MP2, which received Uptime Institute's coveted Tier III Certification of Constructed Facility. MP2 is the first colocation data center in Minnesota to receive this award, which signifies that the design, construction, and commissioning meet the Uptime Institute's rigorous criteria for Concurrent Maintainability. Delivered with technology partner Compass Datacenters in Shakopee, MP2 addresses the need for premium colocation service in Minneapolis and adjacent markets.

Tier Certification from Uptime Institute assures businesses that all elements of the critical infrastructure of a data center are capable of enterprise-grade performance. CenturyLink's strategic global commitment to the Tier Certification process also includes the recently successful completion of Tier III Certification of Constructed Facility for the second phase of its OC2 data center in Irvine, California, making it the first and only Uptime Institute Tier Certification, of both Design & Facility, in the southern California colocation market. CenturyLink is also working toward Tier III Certification of Constructed Facility for colocation data centers in Elk Grove, Illinois; Markham, Ontario; and Hong Kong by the end of 2014. The Hong Kong data center, delivered jointly with Digital Realty Trust, would be the first data center to receive that award in its region.

"CenturyLink provides businesses with incredible, distinctive data center experiences, and our commitment to official Uptime Institute Tier Certification reflects our ongoing dedication to innovation and excellence in data center design and project delivery," said David Meredith, SVP and global manager of CenturyLink. "Uptime Institute Tier Certification of Constructed Facility confirms what CenturyLink and our technology partners have always known to be true: that data center design and implementation has no tolerance for missing links or shortcuts."

"We congratulate all those who were responsible for delivering the Minneapolis and California projects, as the successful completion of Tier Certification of Constructed Facility speaks to the capabilities of CenturyLink's design and build teams," said Julian Kudritzki, COO of Uptime Institute. "Tier Certification of Design Documents is not easy, but building to that design—and certifying that build—is a key confidence factor for CenturyLink itself and its client base. When a longstanding colocation leader commits to Tier Certification, it endorses its relevance to the end-user community. The successful implementations of Minneapolis and California have us looking forward to the expanding relationship with CenturyLink, its project teams, and technology partners around the world."

About Uptime Institute
Uptime Institute, The Global Data Center Authority^®, is an unbiased third-party data center research, education, and consulting organization focused on improving data center performance and efficiency through collaboration and innovation in data center design, management, and operations. Uptime Institute serves all stakeholders of the data center industry, including enterprise and third-party operators, manufacturers, providers, and engineers to ensure that strategic objectives are met. Uptime Institute is best known for its creation and global administration of the Tier Standards for Data Center Design, Constructed Facility, and Operational Sustainability along with its Management and Operations (M&O) reviews, and FORCSS™ methodology.

Uptime Institute has office locations in the U.S., Costa Rica, Brazil, United Kingdom, Spain, Dubai, Russia, Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia. Uptime Institute is part of The 451 Group, a leading technology-industry analyst and research company. Visit www.uptimeinstitute.com for more information.