Older computers aren't just slower; they use significantly more energy to do the same amount of processing when compared to a newer CPU. We wanted to know how much better we could do in this area so we've developed a metric to measure this use of power relative to the amount of CPU power over the entire data center. We are making it public domain for anyone to use.
We call it the Hinkle Benchmark and we are posting it on our site to show our current metric. We encourage all other providers to be transparent and post their results as well. We don't think we will be the leader in this benchmark but we are focused on improving our number so that we become one of the best.
The benchmark is calculated by summing all of servers' Passmark score/watts used per chip and then dividing this number by the total number of servers. The resulting metric will give an indication of the relative use of power compared to the overall delivery of computational power.
Consumers will want to look at their provider's score and hopefully choose a Data Center that is committed to improving in this area.