Data Center Metrics Task Force Guidelines Focus on Measuring and Managing PUE – You Should Too!

By John Consoli

At AFCO System we often say that you can’t manage what you can’t measure when it comes to airflow in your data center. That’s why we were pleased to see that the Data Center Metrics Task Force (DCMTF) places a huge emphasis on measurements its recent report, “Recommendations for Measuring and Reporting Overall Data Center Efficiency: Version 1 – Measuring PUE at Dedicated Data Centers.”

The recommendations come from a prestigious task force representing 7×24 Exchange, ASHRAE, The Green Grid, Silicon Valley Leadership Group, U.S. Department of Energy Save Energy Now Program, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR Program, United States Green Building Council, and Uptime Institute.

Here are the guiding principles the DCMTF agreed to:

• Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) using source energy consumption is the preferred energy efficiency metric for data centers. PUE is a measurement of the total energy of the data center divided by the IT energy consumption.

• When calculating PUE, IT energy consumption should, at a minimum, be measured at the output of the uninterruptible power supply (UPS). However, the industry should progressively improve measurement capabilities over time so that measurement of IT energy consumption directly at the IT load (i.e. servers) becomes the common practice.

• For a dedicated data center, the total energy in the PUE equation will include all energy sources at the point of utility handoff to the data center owner or operator. For a data center in a mixed-use building, the total energy will be all energy required to operate the data center, similar to a dedicated data center, and should include cooling, lighting, and support infrastructure for the data center operations.

You can download a copy of the complete report here: http://www.7×24exchange.org/DataCenterMetricsTaskForceRecommendations7-15-2010_final.pdf

What does this mean for you and your data center? Simple, by focusing on the power consumption, including computing equipment, lighting and cooling in your data center you can develop your own PUE rating. Then, by making small, measureable changes to each of these variables – reducing power loads, reconfiguring cabinets, managing airflow and controlling other variables – you can reduce your PUE and in doing so, reduce your overall rate of energy consumption.

If you’d like some help with ways to manage and control your power and cooling, we’re always here to help!