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Data center TCO;a comparison ofhigh-density andlow-density spaces
White Paper
M.K. Patterson, D.G. Costello, & P. F. Grimm
Intel Corporation, Hillsboro, Oregon, USA
M. Loefer
Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, California, USAPaper submitted to THERMES 2007 for publication in Santa Fe, NM Jan. 2007
 
White Paper
Data Center TCO
2
Contents
Abstract
.............................................................................2
Motivation
..........................................................................3
Background and Denitions
.........................................................4
Example Data Center
................................................................6
Benchmark Data
....................................................................9
Conclusions
........................................................................11
Abstract
The cost to build and operate a modern Data Center continues to increase. This TotalCost of Ownership (TCO) includes capital and operational expenses. The good news inall of this is the performance or compute capabilities in the same Data Center (DC) isincreasing at a much higher rate than the TCO. This means the actual cost per unit ofcompute performance is coming down in the Data Center.While that is a positive trend the increasing densities still present a challenge. Thischallenge though is primarily one of design and operation. One of the most commonmisconceptions in this period of growth is that the TCO of a new data center is lowerwith a low density design. We look at the construction and design of both types andpresent results demonstrating that high-density DCs are a better choice for reducingthe owners cost. These results apply to new construction and mostly-unconstrained
retrots. Densities of 1000 watts per square foot of work cell are being achievedwith good efciencies. Modern designs of 200 to 400 watts per square foot of work
cell are much more common, but cost more. Costs of the architectural space, powersystems and cooling systems are reviewed as are the operational costs for thesesystems. High-density DCs do cost less. The challenges for the high-density DC arealso called out and suggestions for successful operation are made.
Keywords:
Data CenterThermal ManagementTCOHigh-Performance Computing
 
White Paper
Data Center TCO
3
Motivation
ASHRAE (2005) provides projections for datacom density trends, as shown inFigure 1. Of particular interest in this paper is the trend for compute servers, both1U & blades, and 2U; these are the primary building blocks of scale-out datacenters. The 1U trend for 2006 indicates a heat load of roughly 4000 watts / sqft of equipment oor space. A typical rack has a foot print of 39 by 24 inches, thisrepresents a 26 kW rack. Very few racks of this power are in place. Is Figure 1 incorrect
or are there other factors? The ASHRAE guide represents the peak value, or whatcould be expected in a fully populated rack. But DCs are not being built to this density.
Instead DCs are still being built to the 1999 ASHRAE values of compute density. Is DCdevelopment lagging behind and not technically capable of supporting 26 kW racks? Or
would a data center at that density be too costly, and more expensive than the onescurrently being built? These issues are analyzed and it is shown that the technologyfor power and cooling for racks per the ASHRAE trend does exist, and that a datacenter built to this standard would have a lower TCO. The authors believe that the
problem has to do with the life of datacom equipment (3~5 years) as compared withthe lifetime of these facilities (~15 years) and the inertia that lifetime builds into data
center strategies and design.
Figure 1. ASHRAE Datacom Trend Chart showing increasing density over time
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