Analytical model of data center infrastructure efficiency for system level simulations

Data center energy efficiency has risen to the forefront within a short period of time. Efficiency improvements can have signifi- cant 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 highlevel, 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 powerconversion 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.