Estimating data center PUE

摘要

Socrates said, "The more I team, the more I learn how little I know." This quote can correlate strongly with the topic of estimating and analyzing data center energy use. Despite many years of experience, a definitive, detailed approach on how to estimate power usage effectiveness (PUE) in a project's early design phases is extremely elusive. Reports and articles typically focus on measuring energy use after a facility is operational. The Green Grid Association and ASHRAE offer a wealth of information on how to perform energy compliance analyses and how to use the data to determine PUE (see "For further reading"). However, applying this knowledge to an energy use simulation process takes a lot of reverse engineering and postulations on how the data center will actually function.