D2 3 Computing e-Infrastructure cost calculations and business _models_vam1-final

e-­‐FISCAL: www.efiscal.eu
EC Contract Number: 283449
1. Introduction
1.1 Scope of the document
This document constitutes the final deliverable of the e-­‐FISCAL project. As such, in addition to the actual results, it
encapsulates all the activities, approaches and tools relevant to e-­‐Infrastructure cost estimation and analysis. The
basic goal of the e-­‐FISCAL project is to analyse the costs of the current European dedicated HTC and HPC
computing e-­‐Infrastructures for research and compare them with equivalent commercial leased or on-­‐demand
offerings. In order to achieve this goal, e-­‐FISCAL has developed a costing methodology that fits its purpose and has
gathered information through a survey instrument (questionnaire) from 28 respondents that correspond to 16
countries. It should be noted that the results should not be used to evaluate moving from in-­‐house to commercial
public clouds; this is a different exercise and is a next step requiring a different approach based on avoidable
costs, while this is also related to the qualitative value of e-­‐Infrastructure that cannot be easily measured.
The research questions that are addressed through this project are summarized in the following five:
• Research question 1: To analyse the cost structure of HPC and HTC centres
• Research question 2: To approximate the cost of HPC and HTC in Europe
• Research question 3: To compare the cost of HPC and HTC centres with commercial Cloud Offerings
• Research question 4: To propose suitable business models for e-­‐Infrastructures
• Research question 5: To analyse Green IT initiatives in HPC and HTC centres
However, not all research questions have equal importance in the study. The first three questions correspond to
the main focus of the project while the final two issues are covered less extensively as they are addressed
in-­‐depth by other European projects and initiatives as described in section 4.
In the document, we present the main findings evident in the state of the art in relation to the research questions
raised. We then describe the methodology followed in order to calculate the costs of dedicated HTC and HPC
computing e-­‐Infrastructures as well as the results of the application of the methodology and the costs derived.
We present the cost per core hour as well as the cost structure of HPC and HTC sites for 2011 (e.g. cost break
down CAPEX/OPEX) under alternative calculation approximations. Moreover, we compare the cost of in-­‐house
computing provision with the prices of cloud commercial offering both before and after adjusting for difference in
performance between in-­‐house computing and cloud services. The difference in performance has been assessed
through a benchmarking exercise executed within the project that is analytically discussed in this report. We also
discuss business models and pricing policies. Finally, we use PUE numbers as the best proxy for the broader Green
IT initiatives adopted by HPC and HTC centres and we therefore gather such information from our sample sites.
The document also concludes with recommendations and proposals that stem from the findings and experiences
gained through the process of project materialization.
1.2 Target Audiences
The document is intended as an internal and external reference. Internally its main purpose is to collect and
transfer knowledge to various follow-­‐up activities, while at the same time also being of interest to a number of
external stakeholders such as:
• e-­‐Infrastructure computing providers and HPC/HTC centre managers, providing them with a better
understanding of the cost structures and actual costs of in-­‐house vs. leased infrastructures to assist in
planning and determining their centres’ sustainability.
e-­‐FISCAL : Financial Study for Sustainable Computing e-­‐Infrastructures
Deliverable D2.3 – Computing e-­‐Infrastructures cost estimation and analysis – Pricing and
Business models
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