Glossary

TCO (total cost of ownership)

Beginner

Everything a computer costs over its life: buying it, plus the electricity and upkeep to run it.

Novice

Purchase price (spread over the years it is used) plus running costs such as electricity, cooling, space, networking and staff. Divide by the work done to get cost per unit of work.

Expert

Usually modeled per hour: capex ÷ (depreciation life in hours) + IT power × PUE × electricity price + other opex, then divided by delivered work per hour at the real duty cycle. Real prices are negotiated and rarely public.

Explained in Comparing chips (Architectures).

See also: Capex and opex.

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