Facebook Rolls Out Near-Real-Time Public PUE And WUE Dashboards For Data Centers

Facebook has launched public dashboards for its Forest City, North Carolina and Prineville, Oregon data centers, providing easily accessible access to near-real-time Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) and Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE) information. The dashboards provide continues information that is updated to the minute, also providing a 24-hour set of data and historial view containing the year's numbers.

The reason for the change is a matter of pride, according to the announcement, with a desire to show the efficiency of the data centers. In addition, by providing the information, Facebook says that the centers are demystified, and that such a move follows naturally in line with its sharing of the hardware and building designs. The public now gets a peek at what the data centers' technicians see daily.

The public dashboards won't change the annualized averages, which are accessible via the dashboards beneath the near-real-time information. Facebook first made PUE information for Prineville available the second quarter of 2011, eventually rolling out WUE at the same center in mid-2012. Those who follow the dashboards are advised that some "weird" numbers might pop up occasionally because the data centers are still under construction and the variables frequently shifting.

In addition, the dashboards are available for others to use, with Facebook saying that the front-end code will be made open source and available "in the coming weeks". Those who take advantage of the code once it is made available are encouraged to make changes to it, improving what is already there and providing an overall better experience for everyone.

[via Open Compute]