Beyond PUE: the role of DCIM in a data center

With the gradual depletion of global energy, enterprises face the unchangeable fact of higher and higher energy costs. For high-density data centers, the green issue is equally important. The Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) promoted by The Green Grid, an association of IT professionals, is a standard international index used to assess power usage efficiency. The Green Grid provides a formula to calculate the PUE value and determine the power usage status—simply divide the total power of the data center by the power used for IT, or divide the total facility power by the IT equipment power. A lower PUE value means a higher energy savings.

The goal for the Green Grid’s PUE is to provide a metric that can be used repeatedly. Saving energy is a sustainable task and if enterprises can combine a PUE value with the cycle of measurement, analysis, planning and action, even high-density data centers with high power usage can achieve continuous power savings.

 

PUE is not the only focus for the measurement of data center efficiency

The first step to calculate a PUE value is to understand the total power usage situation of a data center, which includes:

• Power system with UPS, power distribution and switches, battery and loss of distribution.
• Air-conditioning system with chiller units, CRAC and CRAH, water pumps, cooling towers and others
• Servers, storage equipment, network equipment, and others
• Other miscellaneous equipment, such as the lighting load, surveillance and access systems, and firefighting systems

Power usage measurement locations of IT equipment is usually divided into three categories: UPS output, PDU (power distribution unit) output and actual power usage of IT equipment, and is provided for users as the basis for measurement and used as a comparison benchmark for the assessment of power usage effectiveness.

PUE Value = Total power usage into data center/ IT equipment power usage

PUE is not the only focus for measuring data center efficiency. For example, the PUE value does not take into account what servers are idle for long periods and it has difficulty detecting new hot spots. An increase of 1°C in the data center will cause an uncertain risk for the data center. This is why Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) is necessary. The DCIM system helps enterprises manage their data centers comprehensively, especially in high-density environments. DCIM helps a management team respond in real-time, plan in advance, and reduce downtime.

 

InfraSuite Manager: A Comprehensive software solution

Delta InfraSuite Manager (DCIM) aims to increase the manageability of the data center and to ensure the performance and availability of data center infrastructures. From fundamental infrastructure management to surveillance operations management, Delta InfraSuite Manager offers data analysis for decision-making. The detailed information it provides covers racks, UPS, power distribution, precision air-conditioning, environment and security.

Delta InfraSuite Manager offers fully featured DCIM solutions with functional modules for different sizes of data center. Delta has just released new exclusive functional modules: Asset, Work Order and Asset Inspection. With the new modules your data center is further empowered by Delta InfraSuite Manager.

Capacity Module:

Capacity Module allows data center managers to plan for the future more effectively through the use of detailed data on rack space, weight, network, power and cooling capacity in the data center. For example, Capacity Module helps data center managers evaluate resource consumption, making it easier for them to plan and decide on the future allocation and most suitable installation locations for IT devices.

 

Work Order Module:

The Work Order Module provides a highly customizable platform that enables users to design work order templates for different management purposes. Different variables such as names, types, priority, schedule, roles of tasks can then be set by the administrator. This helps users not only simplify and integrate the process of change management, but it also extends the life cycle of data center operations.

 

Asset Inspection Module:

The Asset Inspection Module of the InfraSuite Manager is used with a user-friendly mobile app which makes it smarter and more efficient for the inspector to complete his/her inspection process. Customizable templates can be designed for different types of assets. Users can also upload photos of the inspected assets to InfraSuite Manager. Unique QR codes of each asset can be generated by the system, making the tasks more intuitive.

Along with mobile devices and the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) trends, Delta’s R&D team has also developed a DCIM mobile App. Once users log in from a browser on their tablet or smartphone, they have a full view of the datacenter. When emergency calls occur, real-time alarms are distributed through E-mails, voice messages or SMS to provide advanced notification. Delta’s Asset Inspection App lets the maintenance staff use mobile devices for tracking and for forwarding for further approval.