The data centre decisionmaker can easily find a tool to deal with their

Tag : power tools
APC TradeOff Tools break down major data centreplanning
decisions into a series of smaller, more manageable decisions. Useof these
tools helps validate, through modelling, the overall design of adata
centre.
"Customers need to make many key decisions during any datacentre project,
and they do not always have the necessary information to guidethem," says
Carl Cottuli, vice president of APC's Data Center Science Center. "Many of
their concerns are not addressed by configuration tools becausethey occur
early in the concept selection process. With the introduction ofAPC's
TradeOff Tools, when a roadblock arises, the data centre decisionmaker can
easily find a tool to deal with their specific issue, get a quickanswer,
and continue on in the concept selection process."
The seven tools are currently available on the http://tools.apc.comsection
of the APC Web site. They include:
* Carbon Calculator: Illustrates how changes to a data centre'slocation,
efficiency, and power load can impact carbon dioxide emissions andthe
electric bill. This provides management with a general indicationof how
"green" their data centre is today and how"green" it could be.
* Energy Efficiency Calculator: Profiles a data centre andcalculates the
resulting efficiency and electrical cost based on data centre
characteristics. Users can then understand the impact each keydata centre
decision has on the data centre's efficiency.
* Capital Cost Calculator: Identifies key data centre physical
infrastructure parameters and calculates capital costs based onthose
parameters. This allows data centre users to judge how changes todata
centre location, IT load, and cooling and power infrastructure canimpact
overall capital costs.
* Virtualisation Energy Cost Calculator: Comprehends IT andphysical
infrastructure characteristics and calculates energy savingsresulting from
the virtualisation of servers. This allows the user to test theimpact of
virtualisation and various physical infrastructure improvements ontheir
data centre floor space and on their energy consumption.
* Power Sizing Calculator: Defines basic characteristics of the ITload and
calculates how much utility input power would be required tosupport such a
load. This provides users with a general idea of how much power in
kilowatts they will need to run their data centre.
* InRow Containment Selector: Generates a prototype rack and rowcooling
configuration based on theuser's preferences and the physicalconstraints of
the room. This provides the user with their optimal InRow cooling
containment configuration.
* AC vs. DC Calculator: Compares four different AC and DC powerdistribution
architectures and calculates their respective efficiencies. Thisallows the
user to make an educated decision on the optimal architecture fortheir data
centre.
APC's Data Center Science Center (DCSC) designed the APC TradeOffTools. The
DCSC team of engineers and analysts researches data centre issuesand helps
develop design and learning tools that assist data centreprofessionals in
managing their data centres.