What is PUE and how is it calculated?
PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) is a metric used to identify how efficiently your data center is running. By comparing total facility power to your IT power, a ratio of cooling vs IT power is calculated. The lower your PUE the more efficient your data center. But it doesn’t tell the whole picture. A low PUE can be achieved by adjusting your cooling setpoint or turning off servers. But this doesn’t mean you are operating efficiently. Underutilized server capacity or undercooling does not make for an efficient data center operation.
PUE | DCiE | Level of Efficieny |
3.0 | 33% | Very Inefficient |
2.5 | 40% | Inefficient |
2.0 | 50% | Average |
1.5 | 67% | Efficient |
1.2 | 83% | Very Efficient |
You can’t control what you can’t measure
AKCP monitoring solutions allow you to gain detailed insights into your data center facility’s environmental and power parameters. Checking for hotspots, differential air pressure, and airflow around your data center. Ensure that real-life measurements match predicted cooling and airflow analysis from CFD models. Once you have the proper sensors and monitoring in place, the measurements can be used to begin controlling your data center for maximum efficiency. The first thing to do is determine what is your current PUE and use this as a benchmark.