Having measured your PUE, what does it mean, and

how do you compare to 1.2 or 1.6, or even a 2.3? Brill

said. A lower number is better, but where should yours

be? Benchmarking is useful only if you are comparing

yourself with others with similar power and cooling

equipment types, percentages of load utilization, tier

design levels and ZIP codes. Without knowing this

additional   information,   the   numbers   are   virtually

meaningless.

1

 

1 Kenneth G. Brill, Forbes - Don t  Trust the Marketing Brochures, 2008

How does a company measure success in a data center?

Only well-defined performance metrics can answer that

question. Truth is, everyone has a different idea about

how work is defined in the data center. Each organization

needs a specific approach, tailored for their unique

business needs, to create metrics that lead to effective

data center management.

This   paper   proposes   that   there   are   many   key

performance indicators data center managers can use

to assess, track, and manage the efficiency of IT facilities

and drive business change. The measurement of a data

center environment is very specific to an organization. A

ratio that indicates something positive for one company

might not work for another. For each organization, it s

about driving performance indicators that truly make a

difference from an operational and cost perspective. This

personalized approach provides illuminating answers

due to the specific metrics that result.

A popular performance indicator in recent years is PUE

(Power Utilization Effectiveness). PUE is promoted by the

Green Grid as a metric that can be useful for determining

the gross performance of data center electrical and

mechanical systems. Basically it shows how much the

infrastructure is using versus IT Equipment. Marketers

use low PUE numbers as a competitive tool, while IT

uses it to benchmark the impact of the changes made on

the infrastructure.

But is PUE really a standard by which all data centers can

be judged? Uptime Institute Executive Director Kenneth

G. Brill doesn t think so.

Measuring Success in the Data Center

Why PUE is not enough by itself

by Joe Polastre, PhD

Figure 1: Key Performance Indicators

Only well-defined performance indicators provide a true view

into the operations of a business.