PUE / DCiE Calculator
How to Calculate, What to Measure

PUE and DCiE Data Center Efficiency Measurement and Benchmarking

PUE / DCiE Calculator	How to Calculate PUE / DCiE?	What is PUE / DCiE?	Free PUE / DCiE Consultation

Benchmarking your data center's energy efficiency is a key first step towards reducing power consumption and related energy costs. Benchmarking enables you to understand the current level of efficiency in a data center, and as you implement additional efficiency best practices, it helps you gauge the effectiveness of those efficiency efforts.

Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) and its reciprocal Data Center infrastructure Efficiency (DCiE) are widely accepted benchmarking standards proposed by the Green Grid to help IT Professionals determine how energy efficient data centers are, and to monitor the impact of their efficiency efforts. The Uptime Institute also has a comprehensive benchmark it recommends named Corporate Average Data center Efficiency (CADE). And recently announced at their February 2009 Technical Forum the Green Grid introduced new benchmarks named Data Center Productivity (DCP) and Data Center energy Productivity (DCeP) which probe into the useful work produced by your data center. All benchmarks have their value, and when used correctly, they can be a useful and essential tool for improving your data center energy efficiency.

What is PUE? What is DCiE?
PUE / DCiE are efficiency benchmarks comparing your data center's infrastructure to your existing IT load. The initial benchmarking of PUE / DCiE yields an efficiency score and sets a testing framework for the facility to repeat. Comparing initial and subsequent scores, data center managers can gauge the impact of what should be ongoing efficiency efforts. At any given time, they are comparing the power currently used for the IT equipment a company needs with the power used by the infrastructure which keeps that IT equipment cooled, powered, backed-up, and protected.

Find out what your PUE is! Calculate your PUE with our PUE Calculator.

Power Usage Effectiveness - PUE (Source: Green Grid)

Reduce your operation costs by utilizing measurement, benchmarking,
modeling, and analysis to improve your Data Center's energy efficiency.

PUE = Total Facility Power / IT Equipment Power
DCiE = IT Equipment Power / Total Facility Power

PUE Example:
Having a facility that uses 100,000 kW of total power of which 80,000 kW is used to power your IT equipment, would generate a PUE of 1.25. The 100,000 kW of total facility power divided by the 80,000 kW of IT power

DCiE Example:
Having that same facility that uses 100,000 kW of total power of which 80,000 kW is used to power your IT equipment, would generate a DCiE of .8. The 80,000 kW of IT power divided by the 100,000 kW of total facility power.

Generating PUE / DCiE is only a start on your path to efficiency. For this benchmark to be meaningful it should be generated on a regular basis and preferably also on different days of the week and at different times of the day. The goal being to take actionable efficiency actions based on your actual data. By comparing your starting benchmark with benchmarks taken after implementing changes, you should be able to see noticeable improvements in your PUE/DCiE.

DCiE and PUE Wars and Green Washing ... what PUE isn't!
You may have heard the terms "PUE Wars" or "PUE Marketing." The Green Grid, the author of both PUE and DCiE, didn't intend for either metric to compare one facility to another. Unfortunately that hasn't stopped some people from publishing their PUE numbers in an attempt to market their facilities or design strategies. While their efforts to improve data center efficiency should be applauded, these metrics by themselves are not sufficient to determine data center efficiency. The conversation must include productivity. Are you getting the most out of your servers and storage? Are you maximizing processing power? Retiring idle servers? Consolidating and Virtualizing?

Many in the industry would like to have a data center benchmark similar to the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) enacted by Congress in the 1970's, which compares Miles Per Gallon (MPG) from one vehicle to another. PUE is not currently that metric. A quick illustration will demonstrate the point:

In the earlier PUE and DCiE calculations, a facility with 100,000 kW of total power, and 80000kW devoted to IT equipment, had a PUE of 1.25 and a DCiE of .8. That would usually be considered a very respectable benchmark. But how meaningful is that measurement if the bulk of the servers are just sitting idle or not being very productive?

Over the coming months the Green Grid will be working on productivity calculations that can help make their benchmarks more comparable from one data center to another, but for now they should only be used as a tool to help you improve your own energy efficiency.

PUE / DCiE Benchmarking Frequency:
To have any true value, PUE and DCiE also aren't benchmarks that can be done once or infrequently. They should be measured on a regular, if not real-time, basis at different times of the day and week. To stress this significance, the Green Grid is introducing some additional identifiers, which in combination with the PUE benchmark score will give you a much better picture on frequency and overall meaningfulness of the PUE or DCiE resulting score.

PUE and DCiE Benchmarking in laymen's terms:
Companies and organizations need IT equipment to provide their products and services, handle transactions, provide security, and to run and grow their businesses. The larger a company / organization grows, the greater the need to house their computer equipment in a secure environment. IT equipment includes computer servers, hubs, routers, wiring patch panels and other network equipment. Depending on size, that secure environment is called a wiring closet, a computer room, a server room, or a data center. In addition to the energy needed to run that IT equipment, electric power is utilized for lights, security, backup power, and climate control to maintain temperature and humidity levels that will minimize down time due to heat issues. By benchmarking PUE or DCiE, you are comparing the power needed for business critical IT with the power keeping that IT equipment alive and protected.

All IT equipment (and anything run on electricity) generates heat. In a room filled with racks of computers and other IT equipment a significant amount of your energy costs are incurred by specialized data center cooling and power equipment deployed to keep your servers and other IT equipment up and running. Heat problems in data centers are a leading cause of downtime.

Data Centers are large complex environments and often have different strategic teams managing key components-one team focusing on the facilities management and the other on IT Equipment deployed in the facility. In these environments facilities managers usually determine infrastructure environmental issues including power, cooling, and airflow, and IT Managers determine critical IT systems such as servers and networking equipment.

You can't control or manage what you don't measure
Having a holistic understanding of your computer room or data center's energy consumption is a key first step in being able to determine the appropriate steps necessary to improve your energy efficiency. Measuring should be used as an ongoing tool in your overall data center strategy. CFD measurement at multiple heights in a row of racks along with air pressure measurement under floor tiles can not only help you insure that you are getting enough cool air to the inlet of your servers, it can help you maintain airflow to the recommended ASHRAE level to all IT equipment (current ASHRAE inlet air recommendations are for environment range of 18°C to 27°C (64.4°F to 80.6°F) and a humidity dew point of 5.5C to 15C. This data can also help you eliminate hot aisle / cold aisle containment issues (hot air leaking into the cold aisles and vice versa). With proper power measurement of your overall data center IT equipment and infrastructure, you will be able to determine your PUE and DCiE. As PUE / DCiE are industry standards, determining your data center's energy efficiency rating will enable you enable you to compare how efficient your facility is compared with other data centers around the world. It also helps you set a benchmark you can track, report, and continually improve. Keeping your data center energy efficient should be an ongoing process. After determining your facility's efficiency rating, you implement power and cooling best practices to improve efficiency and then monitor how those changes improved your PUE/DCIE. And as you add additional energy efficient IT assets, the process continues showing how much less energy consumption your facility is using. Improvements in your DCiE and PUE correlate to improved efficiency, which in turn demonstrate a measurable reduction in your company's or organization's power bill.

Where Does Energy Go? (Source: Green Grid)
42U is a Green Grid member

How to Calculate PUE and DCiE:

*Where does the extra 106kW go?

But a number of components influence the total facility load. The cooling infrastructure may consume 40% of the incoming electricity as in the example below. For this reason, a user may want to specifically measure and trend consumption in the central plant.

Current technologies enable very precise measurements. A building management system may be able to monitor total incoming electricity, chiller loads, and lighting loads. Cisco's EnergyWise technology, newer rack power products, and branch circuit monitoring can all track power consumption at the device level. Remote sensors and software products can monitor kW and kWH of individual CRACs and CRAHs. As a result, users can target and improve problem areas of the data center.

This level of detail ultimately depends on your goals, facility, and budget. No matter how simple or involved the program, the most important objective is consistency. You cannot improve or control what you do not measure.

Step 3: Know the power distribution components

Electrical distribution is central to these measurements. Power flows through assorted components, and losses occur as it makes its way from a service entrance to the IT equipment. Here are some of the key power components:

Transformer
Electricity travels through the service entrance and into a transformer, which feeds everything downstream: switchgear, UPS, lighting, CRAC/CRAHs, and, eventually, the IT equipment. The uphill side of this transformer represents a potential spot for measuring total facility power.

Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)
Downstream from transformer, transfer switches, switchgear. This represents a potential spot for measuring total IT load.

Power Distribution Unit (PDU)
Different from a rack-based power units (where the IT equipment is actually powered), these floormount units distribute power via circuit breakers to the cabinets and racks housing IT equipment. This location, if available, represents a more comprehensive spot for measuring the IT load as it includes both the UPS and PDU electrical losses.

Step 4: Find your Total Facility Power

Transformers
Transformers do not inherently have intelligence, so metering will be necessary. Sophisticated handheld devices can provide a point in time reading of incoming electricity.

The objective, however, is to track results and improvements over time. Clamp-on meters, installed at the uphill side of the transformer, can quantify efficiency gains through ongoing measurement. The devices, housed in electrical boxes close to the transformer, have leads that install around each conductor and provide detailed readouts of each electrical phase.

Transformers are vastly important to data center operation, and some users, concerned with install complexity or a perception of downtime, may be hesitant to install such meters. Yet sound and experienced engineering can allay these concerns and position the user to save in energy costs over the lifetime of his facility.

Automatic/Static Transfer Switch (ATS / STS)
While dedicated transformer metering will provide the most accurate facility load there are situations that do not allow for metering at this point in the supply chain. The output of the ATS / STS provides optimal metering point for facilities power. In the environment that includes a backup generator, the facility power measurement at the output of the ATS / STS is the preferred point for collecting the entire facilities load as all systems required for critical operations are fed from this point.

Building Management Software
Users may already employ a building management system that continually monitors power consumption. If this is the case, the total facility power may be little more than a few clicks a way, presenting the values via a web interface.

For additional help in calculating your PUE/DCiE call us 1-800-638-2638, or ask your questions in our consultation form.

Step 5: Find your Total IT Load

Measuring IT Load via PDU
PDU output is another measurement point. Newer PDUs with readable panels or automated branch circuit monitoring make the IT load very accessible. As mentioned earlier, PDUs can contain a number of 42-pole panels, and without automation, installing meters at each pole and managing the resultant data could prove difficult.

Keep in mind that each reading is subject to electrical losses, due to the inefficiencies of the UPS and PDUs. If you choose, you can calculate the losses by comparing each device's input and output values.

• UPS input power (kW) - UPS output power (kW) = UPS Power Loss (kW)
• PDU input power (kW) - PDU output power (kW) = PDU Power Loss (kW)

Measuring IT Load via UPS
The UPS output is the first logical place to gather the IT load. Newer UPS systems may include readable front panels or use web interfaces, which simplify any detective work and provide a vehicle for trending data over time. Older UPS systems, without front panels or SNMP capabilities, can utilize the same clamp meters discussed in the transformer section.

For additional help in calculating your PUE/DCiE call us 1-800-638-2638, or ask your questions in our consultation form.

Step 6: Take Meaningful Action

With the initial reading complete, identify a course of action. Consider the use of modeling or measurement tools to analyze airflow on the data center floor. Review the interrelated settings of the cooling infrastructure from chilled water temperature through server inlet temperature. Eliminate idle servers and, if possible, use virtualization technology. Then run the test once again.

If IT supports business, first and foremost, improving PUE/DCiE has a compelling business argument. Less energy consumed, smaller electric bill. Good for the environment. Good for the bottom line.

Find out what your PUE is with our PUE Calculator!

How can PUE or DCiE help you save operational costs in your data center?
The energy savings for an efficient data center are significant! After calculating your current PUE / DCiE benchmark, use our interactive data center savings calculator to select different efficiency goals to see how much your organization will save in energy costs by improving your efficiency. You will need to know your Total IT Load.

42U's Data Center Efficiency Assessment Services include:

• Best Practice Assessment - A cost-effective point-in-time assessment that identifies opportunities for energy efficiency improvements.
• Custom Efficiency Assessment - A completely customized assessment designed to meet specific client objectives for data center energy efficiency.
• Real-Time Efficiency Benchmark - Based on an initial assessment coupled with real-time monitoring technology that enables data center managers to maintain energy efficiency best practices.
• Troubleshooting Investigation & Assessment - A powerful solution for identification and resolution of unexplained errors or downtime in the data center

About 42U
Since 1995, 42U has been a leader in providing data center efficiency solutions for data center and facilities managers. Our vendor and technology agnostic approach leverages our best-practice expertise in monitoring, airflow analysis, power, measurement, cooling, and best-of-breed efficiency technologies to help data center managers improve energy efficiency, reducing power consumption and subsequently lowering energy costs.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.