Data Center PUE

What is Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE)?

Power usage effectiveness (PUE) is a globally accepted metric developed by The Green Grid Association and published in 2007. It was created in partnership with organizations worldwide as a methodology to determine a data center's energy efficiency. The ratio shows the amount of energy consumed by a data center facility as a whole compared to the energy consumed by the information and communications technology (ICT) equipment. To calculate the PUE, divide the total facility energy usage by the IT equipment energy usage. A lower PUE ratio indicates better energy performance by the data center. A PUE score of 1.0 is considered perfect.

Why Is Data Center PUE Important?

The PUE is a key performance indicator that measures the efficient use of resources in a data center. The global standard for PUE was published in 2016 under ISO/IEC 30134-2:2016. However, it is important to remember that PUE should be utilized as an improvement metric, not a comparison metric. This is because many factors, such as the challenges listed below, can impact what would be considered a good PUE.

Although PUE is widely used as a standard to demonstrate data center efficiency, it has some limitations. Variations in PUE score can occur depending on the following factors:

• The inclusion of different types of energy is not regulated in PUE scoring. For accurate results, all data related to the data center's energy consumption must be considered. However, discrepancies can arise due to human error or shared usage, leading to omitted details.
• The PUE metric does not consider the data center's geographical location and the local climate's impact on its efficiency. The normal outside temperatures of a location affect PUE due to the significant role of cooling in the total energy consumption of a facility.
• The PUE score does not consider whether the facility runs at full or partial capacity. Therefore, a partial IT load can negatively impact the PUE score depending on the cooling system when the calculation only considers IT usage.

Data Center PUE with Cadence

Cadence Reality DC utilizes digital twin technology to create a virtual data center that accurately replicates the behavior of a real data center. This technology benefits data center operators with varying densities who must make quick IT deployment decisions. By simulating data center changes with Cadence Reality DC, operators can maintain a holistic view of data center operations, ensuring that the best balance of energy efficiency, capacity utilization, and risk is maintained in the data center. This allows troubleshooting and fine-tuning any data center changes within the virtual model before they are implemented in the real data center, minimizing risk and maximizing performance. The technology also takes into account crucial factors such as cooling and power provision, available space, and much more, with go/no-go traffic light guidance.