Analytical model of data center infrastructure efficiency for system level simulations

Abstract

Data center energy efficiency has risen to the forefront within a short period of time. Efficiency improvements can have significant economical and environmental effects; hence, they are actively sought out by data center operators. Developing techniques and associated tools for the evaluation of overall data center efficiency is therefore a pivotal research area. Ability to evaluate the efficiency of existing and especially emerging solutions and technological advances requires methods capable of predicting the energy use at a fundamental level. Analytical modeling and numerical simulations are the key techniques for these tasks. This paper studies high-level, analytical methods for modeling the total data center energy efficiency, and evaluates the opportunities such models provide for simulations. Polynomial efficiency models for cooling and power-conversion equipment are used to construct system-level simulation models for various powering schemes. And these models are applied in example cases to demonstrate benefits of the proposed modeling approach.