You don’t measure the scale of a automobile based mostly on how a lot gasoline it may slot in its tank. You don’t decide how massive a home is by calculating the voltage flowing via its circuits. You don’t evaluate the processing energy of computer systems in keeping with the electrical energy their CPUs eat.
But, in terms of measuring the scale of information facilities, the first metric is whole vitality consumption. Conversations about knowledge middle capability regularly deal with the utmost megawatts {that a} facility can eat – therefore why you may hear an organization promote its 100 MW knowledge middle, for instance, or others discuss 10 MW knowledge middle tasks.
This raises the query: Why, precisely, can we measure knowledge facilities based mostly on vitality enter? What are the benefits and drawbacks of this strategy? And which different metrics might the trade use alongside, or rather than, whole megawatt consumption to check knowledge middle capability?
Understanding Information Heart Dimension Measurements
When individuals wish to know the way massive a knowledge middle is, they often accomplish that as a result of they’re eager about what number of servers it may assist, which is itself a measure of what number of functions or knowledge it may host.
That is sensible; provided that knowledge facilities’ main goal is to host workloads, ascertaining what number of workloads a facility can assist is vital for figuring out its final worth and usefulness.
A problem, although, is that there is no such thing as a single metric that may precisely seize a knowledge middle’s whole internet hosting capability. A number of elements affect knowledge middle capabilities, together with:
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Constructing measurement: The bodily dimensions of a facility decide what number of servers you possibly can match inside.
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Server rack measurement: Server racks come in several sizes, which additionally impacts the variety of servers that may match inside a knowledge middle.
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Server rack format: The positioning of server racks on the info middle ground could affect the full variety of racks and servers it may accommodate.
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Cooling capability: The effectivity of knowledge middle cooling methods can place a restrict on whole server rely. In the event you deploy extra servers than you possibly can preserve cool, you’ll run into main issues.
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Community infrastructure: The capability of the community connecting servers inside a knowledge middle, in addition to exterior connections to the Web, restricts whole server capability.
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Whole energy enter: An information middle’s whole electrical enter limits its capability as a result of you possibly can solely deploy as many servers as you possibly can energy.
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Energy effectivity: The effectivity at which knowledge middle gear consumes energy (often measured based mostly on energy utilization effectiveness, or PUE) can be an element. The extra energy-efficient your infrastructure is, the extra workloads you possibly can host utilizing a set energy capability.
A 100 MW knowledge middle with poor effectivity may assist fewer workloads than an 80 MW facility with higher energy utilization. Picture: Bloomberg.
A 100 MW knowledge middle with poor effectivity may assist fewer workloads than an 80 MW facility with higher energy utilization. Picture: Bloomberg.
The Professionals and Cons of Sizing Information Facilities Primarily based on Power Enter
Of all of the elements simply described, one performs an particularly outstanding function in evaluating knowledge middle capability: energy enter.
Metrics like sq. footage and whole theoretical server rack rely are additionally typically mentioned. But when somebody must sum up a knowledge middle’s measurement utilizing a single quantity, it’s prone to be a measure of what number of megawatts of vitality circulate into it.
In some respects, this strategy is sensible. The key benefit of measuring knowledge middle capability based mostly on energy enter presents is that it’s a comparatively constant proxy for what number of servers and workloads a knowledge middle can assist. Extra workloads require extra energy, so extra energy usually correlates with extra capability.
Then again, a serious draw back is that whole vitality enter doesn’t at all times translate linearly to whole server capability. A server’s energy necessities can fluctuate extensively based mostly on its elements, the precise workloads it hosts, and the effectivity of the cooling system that protects it.
Because of this, whole energy enter measurements are extra significant in the event that they’re accompanied by PUE metrics, since PUE displays which proportion of accessible vitality inside a knowledge middle can be utilized to energy servers. For instance, a 100 MW knowledge middle with poor energy utilization effectiveness won’t have the ability to assist as many workloads as an 80 MW knowledge middle that makes use of electrical energy extra effectively, due to energy-saving improvements like immersion cooling.
That mentioned, different metrics for assessing knowledge middle capability, like sq. footage or server rack rely, are additionally imperfect measurements of what a knowledge middle can truly do. The dimensions of servers and server racks can differ, so server room sq. footage doesn’t translate neatly to how a lot infrastructure a facility can host. The variety of servers you possibly can slot in a rack may differ. And even when bodily area will not be a constraint, cooling limitations is perhaps.
Thus, if the trade defaults to specializing in whole vitality enter, it could be as a result of there is no such thing as a higher different.
Dimension Issues: Precisely Calculating Information Heart Capability
In the end, one of the best ways to measure knowledge middle measurement is by contemplating a lot of elements, together with however not restricted to vitality enter – and to keep in mind that assessments of information middle capability solely roughly correlate with what number of workloads a facility can truly host.
Information facilities are inherently advanced, and there’s no single measurement metric that may seize that complexity with out dropping lots of element.
