If HP has its way, "computon" will soon be a word in your new data center vocabulary.

Nick van der Zweep, director of virtualization and utility computing for HP, defines the term: A computon is a measurement of usage that parallels the kilowatt-hour in an electric utility. HP Labs, he explains, is looking at the computon as a way to measure storage and other IT capacity, such as network resources and computer power. "Just as there is a standardized way to pay for electricity with the meter on the side of your house, we have a concept of a computon," he says.

Some of the first pieces of computons are coming out this year, van der Zweep says. Users will be able to buy classes of storage capacity by computon. HP also envisions brokerages where people that need capacity can buy it.