Method and an apparatus for managing power consumption of a server

• US 7,418,608 B2
• Filed: 06/17/2004
• Issued: 08/26/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/17/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Kumar, Arvind, O'Shea, David J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee; Thomas
• Assistant Examiner(s): CRIBBS, MALCOLM
• Application Number:
  US10/871,587
• Publication Number:
  US 20050283624A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,531 Days
• Field of Search: 713/300, 713/320, 713/340, 713/324
• US Class Current: 713/320
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3203 Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/324 by lowering clock frequency
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3287 by switching off individual functional units in the computer system
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

A method and an apparatus for managing power consumption of a server have been disclosed. In one embodiment, the method includes allowing a user to set a power management policy on a server, monitoring power consumption of a plurality of blades in the server, and automatically managing power consumption of the server in response to the power consumption of the plurality of blades based on the power management policy set by the user. Other embodiments have been claimed and described.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

allowing a user to set a power management policy on a server;

monitoring power consumption of a plurality of blades in the server;

automatically managing power consumption of the server in response to the power consumption of the plurality of blades based on the power management policy set by the user;

powering on the plurality of blades sequentially; and

performing a power compatibility check on each of the plurality of blades after powering on a corresponding blade and before powering on a next blade, wherein the plurality of blades are in a power domain and performing the power compatibility check on each of the plurality of blades comprises

obtaining a power rating of the corresponding blade from a blade management controller within the corresponding blade, and

checking the power rating against overall available power for the power domain.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising waiting a predetermined period of time before powering on the next blade.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein automatically managing the power consumption of the server comprises:

programming one or more power thresholds into each of the plurality of blades; and

dynamically adjusting the power thresholds in response to the power consumption of the plurality of blades.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein automatically managing the power consumption of the server comprises:

throttling one or more of the plurality of blades to reduce the power consumption of the plurality of blades if the power consumption of the plurality of blades exceeds a predetermined limit; and

relaxing the one or more power thresholds of one of the plurality of blades to allow performance of the one blade to be improved if available power for the one blade increases.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein throttling one or more of the plurality of blades comprises:

causing one or more processors on the one or more of the plurality of blades to transition into a power state having lower power consumption.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

throttling each of the plurality of blades until the power consumption of the plurality of blades falls below the predetermined limit.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

throttling a blade having a power consumption over a power threshold of the blade; and

powering down the blade if throttling the blade fails to cause the power consumption of the plurality of blades to fall below the predetermined limit, wherein automatically managing the power consumption of the server comprises

programming one or more power thresholds into each of the plurality of blades, and

dynamically adjusting the power thresholds in response to the power consumption of the plurality of blades.

22. The method of claim 7, wherein throttling one or more of

the plurality of blades comprises:

causing one or more processors on the one or more of the plurality of blades to transition into a power state having lower power consumption.

23. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

throttling each of the plurality of blades until the power consumption of the plurality of blades falls below the predetermined limit.

8. A machine-accessible medium that provides instructions that, if executed by a processor, will cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

allowing a user to set a power management policy on a server;

monitoring power consumption of a plurality of blades in the server;

automatically managing power consumption of the server in response to the power consumption of the plurality of blades based on the power management policy set by the user;

powering on the plurality of blades sequentially; and

performing a power compatibility check on each of the plurality of blades after powering on a corresponding blade and before powering on a next blade, wherein the plurality of blades are in a power domain and performing the power compatibility check on each of the plurality of blades comprises

obtaining a power rating of the corresponding blade from a blade management controller within the corresponding blade, and

checking the power rating against overall available power for the power domain.

9. The machine-accessible medium of claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving power consumption data of the plurality of blades from a plurality of blade management controllers in the plurality of blades;

automatically throttling one or more of the plurality of blades to reduce power consumption of the plurality of blades in response to the data received based on the power management policy; and

powering down one or more of the plurality of blades if throttling one or more of the plurality of blades fails to lower the power consumption of the plurality of blades below a predetermined limit.

10. The machine-accessible medium of claim 8, wherein the plurality of blades are in a power domain and the operations further comprise:

dynamically adjusting one or more power thresholds of the plurality of blades in response to the power consumption of the plurality of blades, comprising

relaxing the one or more power thresholds of the plurality of blades if power available for the power domain increases.

11. The machine-accessible medium of claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise allowing the user to modify the power management policy after setting the power management policy.

12. An apparatus comprising:

a plurality of interconnects;

a plurality of blades in a power domain, each of the plurality of blades comprising a blade management controller, one or more processors, and a power sensor coupled between the one or more processors and the management controller; and

a chassis management module (CMM), coupled via the plurality of interconnects to the plurality of blades, to communicate with the blade management controller of each of the plurality of blades in order to monitor and to automatically manage power consumption of the plurality of blades, wherein the CMM includes a user interface to allow users to set a power management policy, wherein the CMM is operable to power on the plurality of blades sequentially, to perform a power compatibility check on each of the plurality of blades after powering on a corresponding blade and before powering on a next blade by

obtaining a power rating of the corresponding blade from the blade management within the corresponding blade, and

checking the power rating against overall available power for the power domain.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the CMM is operable to automatically manage power consumption of the plurality of blades based on the power management policy set.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the power sensor is operable to sense power consumption of the one or more processors and to input power consumption data to the blade management controller.

15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the plurality of interconnects comprises one or more Ethernet busses.

16. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the plurality of interconnects comprises one or more system management busses.

17. A system comprising:

one or more storage devices;

one or more client machines; and

a server, coupled between the one or more storage devices and the one or more client machines, to perform operations on the one or more storage devices in response to requests from the one or more client machines, the server comprising;

a plurality of interconnects;

a plurality of blades, each of the plurality of blades comprising a blade management controller, one or more processors, and a power sensor coupled between the one or more processors and the management controller; and

a chassis management module (CMM), coupled via the plurality of interconnects to the plurality of blades, to communicate with the blade management controller of each of the plurality of blades in order to monitor and to automatically manage power consumption of the plurality of blades, wherein the CMM includes a user interface to allow users to set a power management policy, wherein the CMM is operable to power on the plurality of blades sequentially, to perform a power compatibility check on each of the plurality of blades after powering on a corresponding blade and before powering on a next blade by

obtaining a power rating of the corresponding blade from the blade management within the corresponding blade, and

checking the power rating against overall available power for the power domain.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the CMM is operable to automatically manage power consumption of the plurality of blades based on the power management policy set.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the power sensor is operable to sense power consumption of the one or more processors and to input power consumption data of the one or more processors to the blade management controller.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the plurality of interconnects comprises one or more Ethernet busses.

21. The system of claim 17, wherein the plurality of interconnects comprises one or more system management busses.