1. Metering, Devolved
Energy Budgeting and
Charging for Energy Use
Colin Love
ULCC Data Centre Manager

2. Who are ULCC ?
• Wholly owned subsidiary of the University of London
• Receive no direct funding and so self-sufficient
• Operate own data centre facility (568sqM of IT space)
• Large number of external customers taking services
ranging from simple co-location hosting up to full
operating system & application management
• Not for profit organisation

3. Metering, Devolved Energy
Budgeting and Charging for
Energy Use
• What we meter, where and why
• Who we charge for power usage
• Why devolve energy budgeting

4. Electrical Distribution
• Single main panel for Data Centre and associated
equipment (plant kit) with dual grid feeds and standby
generator
• Dual feeds to dedicated plant equipment panel
• Dual UPS units running as 2N
• 4 PDUs within Data centre (2 per UPS), with discreet
A and B supplies to every cabinet

6. Power meters
DIRIS A40 Panel Meter Main Incomer

7. In rack power monitors
CL-Amp unit In rack PDU monitor

8. In rack PDU monitor
Close up Raw data

9. Why monitor power usage
• To ensure power demand doesn’t exceed availability
(limited power availability in the Data Centre)
• Understand PuE of the Data Centre so improvements
can be implemented
• To monitor and charge customers for excess power
usage where appropriate
• IT power loads are increasing, even with virtualisation
• Planning for the future – PuE, CRC, EUCoC

10. Improving Data Centre Efficiency
• Rack Containment
• More efficient cooling (in-row, free air, ECC fans)
• Higher temperatures in Data Centre (difficult in a co-
location environment due to legacy kit!!)

11. ULCC Data Centre 2
• Learnt from the original data centre
• Hot aisle-containment solution
• More efficient air conditioning, although still DX
because of building fabric limitations
• Metering is more focused, and more accurate in-rack
monitoring as greenfield site.

12. Devolved Energy Budgeting
• Why devolve
– Reduced space charges typically, but....
– The risks are higher overall costs
– Greater visibility of power usage
– Directly benefit from efficiency improvements
– Results in much closer involvement in energy
efficiency overall

13. The Future
• More sub-metering of supplies
• Networkable meters to provide trending data
• Better management software for the whole Data
Centre estate
• CRC challenges, EU Code of Conduct

14. Thank You
• Any Questions ???
• Contact Me: C.Love@ulcc.ac.uk
• GoodCampus/RECSO case study at
http://www.goodcampus.org/susteit/susteit-cases/