Just weeks after it launched a free online 'Virtualisation Energy Cost Calculator', APC by Schneider Electric has now launched another tool, which provides a graphical depiction of how various power and cooling designs can affect the efficiency and electrical cost of typical data center configurations.

APC says that the purpose of this Calculator tool is to show the effects of various design decisions and operating conditions. For example, what would be the impact of installing chilled water and/ close coupled cooling systems on the overall facility energy bill?
As the user inputs the details about their power and cooling configuration, the tool calculates results \"based on a tested and validated three parameter model.\"

That said, APC does admit that this a model for a typical data center and that actual data centers can vary greatly from this model due to efficiency and sizing of the actual power and cooling devices used.

APC feels that the primary value of this tool will be to evaluate the comparative effects of different design or condition changes. In conjunction with the tool, APC also offers a data center efficiency assessment service that \"comprehends actual installation details and measurements for a specific data centre.\"

The tool makes use of 'industry standard metrics' including power usage effectiveness (PUE) and data center infrastructure efficiency (DCiE). \"We are trying to help people improve the efficiency of their facility,\" said Peter Hannaford, Vice President, Datacenters & Alliances (EMEA/LAM), at APC By Schneider Electric. \"The arrival CRC has brought things to a head for many UK customers, and we are also going to help UK customers by announcing an assessment service for them as well. The CRC's 6,500 megawatts cap sounds like a lot, but if your data center is inefficient, it is going to have an impact on quite a few people.\"

\"People often don't have any idea of how to measure energy efficiency,\" Hannaford told DatacenterDynamics. \"Our calculator tool provides them with a 'quick and dirty way' to assess your savings if you did a more indepth assessment.\"

\"The chances are that if you own or operate a data center building that was built more than five years ago, if you were to build it again today using advances in server technology, virtualisation etc, that data center would probably be more than half the size in footprint terms (than the old data center), and undoubtedly it would use at least a third less energy than your old facility.\"

\"This calculator gives you an idea of what a new data center might look like,\" Hannaford added. \"That is not to say you cannot convert your existing data center, especially when you think that if you only built your facility five years ago, steps likes virtualising your servers creates more space, so you probably have got empty racks. You can then install pods systems and create even more space, and all these types of things allow you to work your way around your data center. The calculator will give you a flavour of what can be achieved.\"

\"We are aiming it at all data center owners and operators, and you don't have to be an APC customer,\" he said. \"The tool just gives people an idea of the savings they can achieve if they build today or upgrade. Being more efficient means less power consumption and has enormous implications for the amount of fossil fuel you take out of the ground. Plus our assessment service will give people practical help.\".