High Performance Computing Data Center Metering Protocol (FEMP, September 2010)
U.S. DOE Federal Energy Management Program / Oak Ridge National Laboratory · Thomas Wenning, Michael MacDonald
A protocol prepared by ORNL for the US DOE FEMP on metering electrical and chilled-water systems in HPC data centres to compute PUE and DCiE.
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Overview
This document is the high performance computing (HPC) data centre metering protocol prepared by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) for the US Department of Energy's Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP). It is dated September 2010 and was written by Thomas Wenning and Michael MacDonald under a UT-Battelle contract.
The protocol explains the purposes and levels of metering, metering equipment, an ORNL metering case study, and a protocol for metering electrical and chilled-water systems to compute PUE and DCiE. Four metering levels are defined: site, building, system and end-use, with the classification citing ASTM E1465.
Electric system metering and chilled-water system metering are treated separately in the protocol. The separation reflects the understanding that PUE must rest not only on electricity meters but also on thermal measurements of the cooling plant. The ORNL case study shows how the principles apply in a real facility.
As a limitation, the document dates from 2010 and focuses on HPC facilities; details such as meter classes and measurement accuracy are not covered on this page. Because it was prepared by a national laboratory contractor, it is not treated as public domain.
Key points
- Prepared by ORNL for FEMP; dated September 2010.
- Authors are Thomas Wenning and Michael MacDonald.
- Defines four metering levels: site, building, system and end-use (citing ASTM E1465).
- Covers electric system and chilled-water system metering separately.
- Includes an Oak Ridge National Laboratory metering case study.
- Gives a metering protocol for computing PUE and DCiE.
Using it in design
- Place metering points in single-line and chilled-water diagrams according to the site, building, system and end-use levels.
- Let the tool auto-suggest the meters needed for PUE and for chilled-water plant kW per ton.
- Plan electrical and thermal metering together.
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Who should read it
Electrical and mechanical engineers and energy managers designing data centre metering and monitoring.
Related standards
- ASTM E1465
Publication details
- Authors
- Thomas Wenning; Michael MacDonald
- Publisher
- U.S. DOE Federal Energy Management Program / Oak Ridge National Laboratory
- Year
- 2010
- Document language
- English
- Source type
- Government / public
- Access
- Free to read
- Licence
- Copyright retained; citation only — the publisher’s terms apply to the original document
Original licence note
Prepared for DOE FEMP by a national-laboratory contractor (stated on cover); not US-Gov public domain. Cited only.
Citation
Thomas Wenning; Michael MacDonald (2010). High Performance Computing Data Center Metering Protocol (FEMP, September 2010). U.S. DOE Federal Energy Management Program / Oak Ridge National Laboratory. https://www.energy.gov/cmei/femp/articles/high-performance-computing-data-center-metering-protocol
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