WP#14 - The Green Grid Metrics: PUE/DCiE Detailed Analysis

Overview

This document is The Green Grid's (TGG) white paper number 14, dated 10 December 2008, with Gary Verdun as lead author. It is a follow-on analysis supporting the DCiE metric introduced in the organisation's earlier paper 'The Green Grid Metrics: Describing Datacenter Power Efficiency'. Access requires registration; only the information on the TGG library description page was used here.

The stated aim is to strengthen DCiE and PUE so that data centre managers can derive and apply them as a global standard metric. In other words, the paper is an effort to supply the detail needed so that an efficiency ratio is not merely defined but can be calculated in the same way across different facilities and compared. The record contains no formulas or numerical examples, so this page does not go into method detail.

The paper belongs to the 2007-2009 metric-definition series that preceded the PUE v2 recommendations. It should therefore be read today as a historical source: DCiE was later set aside in favour of PUE, and the measurement categories come from the later PUE v2 and ISO/IEC 30134-2 rules. The document's value is that it traces how PUE became a standard metric.

Key points

1. Dated 10 December 2008; lead author Gary Verdun and colleagues.
2. Provides detailed analysis to support and strengthen the DCiE metric.
3. Builds on TGG's earlier paper 'Describing Datacenter Power Efficiency'.
4. Stated aim: let managers derive and use DCiE as a global standard metric.
5. Part of the 2007-2009 metric-definition series that preceded the PUE v2 recommendations.
6. DCiE was later deprecated in favour of PUE; measurement categories come from PUE v2 and ISO/IEC 30134-2.
7. Registration required; related standard ISO/IEC 30134-2.

Using it in design

• In the PUE/DCiE calculator, cite this paper as historical provenance.
• State in the tool that DCiE is deprecated in favour of PUE.
• Take measurement categories from the later PUE v2 and ISO/IEC 30134-2 rules, not from this paper.

Who should read it

Energy-efficiency specialists and tool developers who want to understand the origin and development of PUE and DCiE.

Related standards

• ISO/IEC 30134-2

Publication details

Authors

Gary Verdun; Dan Azevedo; Nick Gruendler; Hugh Barrass; Bob MacArthur; Stephen Berard; Phil Morris; Mark Bramfitt; Andy Rawson; Tahir Cader; Jim Simonelli; Tommy Darby; Harkeeret Singh; Christine Long; John Wallerich

Publisher

The Green Grid

Year

2008

Document number

WP 14

Document language

English

Source type

Industry body

Access

Citation only

Licence

Copyright retained; citation only — the publisher’s terms apply to the original document

Citation