Hello all. I have been reading the different postings and have learned quite a bit. I am a financial controller for a developer who is building a DC. I am very new to the Data Center understanding and have bits and pieces of information but I haven't been able to formulate decent projections with such varied responses. I was hoping I could get some advice here on the following subjects:
Does anyone have pro-forma statement?
Is POWER (including cooling) on average around 30% of the Operating Expenses?
With POWER prices going up, and blade servers on the rise. how do you price you rack space?
Does anybody have the sq. footage on average of additional General & administrative expenses or percentages?
Is a 150W per sq. ft. sound about right for today's tier 3 DC?
If anybody has percentages for Operating Expenses it would be great. For example, on average:
These are very broad questions, and any number of variables will affect the answers. I'd be wary of any one-size-fits-all answers, psrticularly if you're basing financial projections on them.
You might find some useful information by checking out the SEC filings for Digital Realty Trust (DLR), which include quite a lot of detail on their holdings and their costs and revenue. But again, those would be drawn upon a porfolio of apples and oranges.
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RichM Data Center Knowledge
News and analysis for data center professionals
This is an interesting question because a lot of it depends on the type of facility you are building and the scale of economics (or not as the case may be).
If you have the power capacity of your facility, you can calculate (at full capacity) your power charges. You can also factor in operational charges to get to a number that it pretty close (+/- 10%). This would work for budgeting purposes.
My advice would be to engage with a company who has experience in this and get them to help out.
Have your operators take precise readings at your site....
1. square footage
2. amp all circuits at multiple operating times (power diversity)
3. measure supply/return temperatures, again during multiple operating times. Obtain delta T across the CRAC.
4. if possible, record CRAC unit operating capacities-DX staging, chilled water valve GPM. Obtain COP of refrigeration units, cost of chilled water.
From this information, your operators should be able to give you an estimated kW/sqft which you can convert to $$$/sqft. Closer than an industry average, but more focussed at your site. A lot of work. We had an engineering firm complete the surveys and calculations.