Automated power management system for a network of computers
First Claim
1. A computer system, comprising:
- a plurality of groups of computers, each computer capable of being in one of a plurality of power states, said groups of computers comprising at least a first group of computers and a second group of computers wherein the first group of computers performs a different function than the second group of computers; and
a load balancer and power management logic coupled to said groups of computers and to a network external to said computer system, wherein said load balancer and power management logic identifies a computer that is operating less efficiently than another computer in said first group of computers and, based on said transactions from said network, deploys the identified computer for use in the second group of computers instead of said first group of computers;
wherein each group performs transactions received from said external network.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A computer system comprising a plurality of computing entities includes automatic power management logic that automatically transitions the system to a state in which less power is consumed when appropriate. The determination as to when this transition should occur is based on determining when demand for the processing abilities of the system are reduced. Once the decision has been made to transition to a reduced power state, the system'"'"'s power management logic makes this transition in such a way to preferably minimize or at least reduce the performance impact on the system. Also, rather than altering the power state of one of the computing entities in the system, the entity can be deployed as part of another computing system.
81 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A computer system, comprising:
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a plurality of groups of computers, each computer capable of being in one of a plurality of power states, said groups of computers comprising at least a first group of computers and a second group of computers wherein the first group of computers performs a different function than the second group of computers; and a load balancer and power management logic coupled to said groups of computers and to a network external to said computer system, wherein said load balancer and power management logic identifies a computer that is operating less efficiently than another computer in said first group of computers and, based on said transactions from said network, deploys the identified computer for use in the second group of computers instead of said first group of computers; wherein each group performs transactions received from said external network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A computer system, comprising:
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a load balancer computer having a connection to a network and receiving transactions from said network; a master power management agent (PMA) coupled to said load balancer; a plurality of transaction processing computers coupled to said load balancer computer and said master power management agent and receiving said transactions from said load balancer computer for processing, said transaction processing computers configured into at least a first group of transaction processing computers and a second group of transaction processing computers and wherein the first group of transaction processing computers performs a different function than the second group of transaction processing computers; wherein said master PMA causes the transaction processing computer within said first group of transaction processing computers that is determined to operate slower than another computer within said first group of transaction processing computers to be deployed for use in said second group of transaction processing computers when the master PMA determines that a rate of transactions received by the load balancer from the network falls below a threshold; and wherein each of said first and second groups performs transactions received from said network. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8)
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9. A data center, comprising:
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a master power management agent (PMA) coupled to a first network; a plurality of transaction processing computers coupled to said first network; a load balancer computer having a connection to a second network over which the load balancer computer receives transactions and said load balancer is coupled to said first network over which said transactions are delivered to the transaction processing computers for further processing; a management control console coupled to said first network and permitting a user to specify an upper limit for power usage by said data center and said master PMA maximizes a performance of the data center for a specified power limit by changing an operational state of a transaction processing computer that is determined to operate slower than at least one other transaction processing computer based on a level of transactions received by the load balancer from the second network. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
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13. A data center, comprising:
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a master power management agent (PMA) coupled to a first network; a plurality of transaction processing computers coupled to first network; wherein a user via a management control console can specify a performance criterion for said data center and said master PMA reduces an overall power usage of the data center for a specified performance criterion by causing a transaction processing computer, determined to be operating less efficiently than another transaction processing computer, to transition to a lower power consumption state. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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17. A method of managing power in a system comprising a plurality of computers organized into at least a first functional group and a second functional group, the method comprising:
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monitoring a rate of transactions received from a network external to said system; determining when said rate falls below a defined value; identifying a computer within the first functional group that is operating slower than another computer in said first functional group; and if said rate falls below the defined value, deploying the identified computer for use in the second functional group; wherein each of said first and second functional groups performs transactions received from said external network. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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19. A computer system, comprising:
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a plurality of computers coupled together over a network, each computer capable of being in one of a plurality of power states; and power management logic coupled to said computers and to said network, wherein said power management logic changes the power state of at least one of said plurality of computers that is determined to operate with less efficiency than another computer based on a protocol, said protocol including time sequences which specify permitted computer system power usage. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification