Power on demand and workload management system and method
First Claim
1. A computer system comprising:
- a plurality of computers operating as servers each having at least one processor and an activity monitor identifying a level of activity indicator for said at least one processor;
each of said computers being operable in;
(i) a first mode having a first maximum performance level and a first power consumption rate, and (ii) a third mode having a third maximum performance level lower than said first maximum performance level and a third power consumption rate lower than said first power consumption rate;
each of said computers further being operable in (iii) a second mode having a second maximum performance level intermediate between said first maximum performance level and said third maximum performance level and a second power consumption rate intermediate between said first power consumption rate and said third power consumption rate; and
a power manager computer;
(i) configured within or coupled to each of said computers and receiving said level of activity information from each of said plurality of computers;
(ii) analyzing said plurality of received level of activity information;
(iii) determining an operating mode for each of said computers selected from said first mode, said second mode, and third mode based on said analyzed activity information and predetermined policies take into account performance of a combination of said servers and power conservation; and
(iv) generating commands to each of said plurality of computers directing each of said plurality of computers to operate in said determined operating mode.
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Abstract
Network architecture, computer system and/or server, circuit, device, apparatus, method, and computer program and control mechanism for managing power consumption and workload in computer system and data and information servers. Further provides power and energy consumption and workload management and control systems and architectures for high-density and modular multi-server computer systems that maintain performance while conserving energy and method for power management and workload management. Dynamic server power management and optional dynamic workload management for multi-server environments is provided by aspects of the invention. Modular network devices and integrated server system, including modular servers, management units, switches and switching fabrics, modular power supplies and modular fans and a special backplane architecture are provided as well as dynamically reconfigurable multi-purpose modules and servers. Backplane architecture, structure, and method that has no active components and separate power supply lines and protection to provide high reliability in server environment.
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Citations
31 Claims
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1. A computer system comprising:
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a plurality of computers operating as servers each having at least one processor and an activity monitor identifying a level of activity indicator for said at least one processor;
each of said computers being operable in;
(i) a first mode having a first maximum performance level and a first power consumption rate, and (ii) a third mode having a third maximum performance level lower than said first maximum performance level and a third power consumption rate lower than said first power consumption rate;
each of said computers further being operable in (iii) a second mode having a second maximum performance level intermediate between said first maximum performance level and said third maximum performance level and a second power consumption rate intermediate between said first power consumption rate and said third power consumption rate; and
a power manager computer;
(i) configured within or coupled to each of said computers and receiving said level of activity information from each of said plurality of computers;
(ii) analyzing said plurality of received level of activity information;
(iii) determining an operating mode for each of said computers selected from said first mode, said second mode, and third mode based on said analyzed activity information and predetermined policies take into account performance of a combination of said servers and power conservation; and
(iv) generating commands to each of said plurality of computers directing each of said plurality of computers to operate in said determined operating mode. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A computer server system comprising:
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a plurality of computers operating as servers each having at least one processor and an activity monitor identifying a level of activity indicator for said at least one processor, said activity monitor comprises an activity monitor that monitors an activity selected from the set of activities consisting of;
a program application layer activity, a network layer activity, a physical layer activity, and combinations thereof;
each of said computers being operable in;
(i) a first mode having a first maximum performance level and a first power consumption rate, and (ii) a third mode having a third maximum performance level lower than said first maximum performance level and a third power consumption rate lower than said first power consumption rate;
each of said computers further being operable in (iii) a second mode having a second maximum performance level intermediate between said first maximum performance level and said third maximum performance level and a second power consumption rate intermediate between said first power consumption rate and said third power consumption rate; and
a power manager computer;
(i) configured within or coupled to each of said computers and receiving said level of activity information from each of said plurality of computers;
(ii) analyzing said plurality of received level of activity information;
(iii) determining an operating mode for each of said computers selected from said first mode, said second mode, and third mode based on said analyzed activity information and predetermined policies; and
(iv) generating commands to each of said plurality of computers directing each of said plurality of computers to operate in said determined operating mode;
wherein when said activity monitor comprises a physical layer activity, at the physical level the number of processor idle threads executed within a predetermined period of time are measured to determine processor loading and the processor performance is adjusted to by altering the operating mode to substantially match the level of processor loading;
wherein when said activity monitor comprises a network layer activity monitoring TCP/IP protocol data packets; and
processor performance is incrementally lowered by said power manager using said mode control until data packets start dropping indicating that the processor performance is at the limit of adequacy and then increasing the processor performance by a specified increment to act as a safety margin to provide reliable communication of the packets;
wherein when said activity monitor comprises said application layer, said activity monitor comprises monitoring use of a port address within said computers, said monitoring including counting or measuring a number of times a specific port address is being requested within a predetermined period of time, and in response to that counting or measurement, placing a sufficient amount of computer performance to meet the performance requirement for each application requesting the port address;
said first mode operation is characterized by operating said processor at a first processor clock frequency and a first processor core voltage, said second mode operation is characterized by operating said processor at a second processor clock frequency and a second processor core voltage, and said third mode operation is characterized by operating said processor at a third processor clock frequency and a third processor core voltage;
said second mode of operation being further characterized in that said second processor clock frequency and said second processor core voltage in combination consuming less power than said first processor clock frequency and said first processor core voltage in combination, and said third processor clock frequency and said third processor core voltage in combination consuming less power than said second processor clock frequency and said second processor core voltage in combination. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30)
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31. In a server farm comprising a multiplicity of computer systems operating as content servers, a method of operating said servers, each server computer including at least one processor, and each computer being operable in a first mode having a first maximum performance level and a first power consumption rate, and a third mode having a third maximum performance level lower than said first maximum performance level and a third power consumption rate lower than said first power consumption rate;
- said method comprising;
monitoring activity within each said computer server and identifying a level of activity for said at least one processor within said server computer;
analyzing said plurality of level of activity information and predetermined policies take into account performance of a combination of said servers and power conservation;
determining an operating mode for each of said computers selected from said first mode and third mode based on said analyzed activity information; and
generating commands to each of said multiplicity of server computers directing each of said plurality of computers to operate in said determined operating mode.
- said method comprising;
Specification