Method and system for automated energy usage monitoring within a data center

• US 7,653,499 B2
• Filed: 12/14/2007
• Issued: 01/26/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/14/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: X Corp. (f/k/a Twitter, Inc.) (X Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Corrado, Ronald P., Iyengar, Madhusudan K., Schmidt, Roger R., Newcomer, Jeffrey A., Weber, Gerard V.
• Primary Examiner(s): Feliciano; Eliseo Ramos
• Assistant Examiner(s): HENSON, MISCHITA L
• Application Number:
  US11/956,405
• Publication Number:
  US 20090157333A1
• Time in Patent Office: 774 Days
• Field of Search: 702 60- 62, 702 64- 65, 702/130, 702/132, 702/136, 702182-183, 702186-188, 361/678, 361/679.49, 361/696, 361/690, 236/13
• US Class Current: 702/61
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 22/00 Arrangements for measuring time integral of electric power or current, e.g. electricity meters
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/00 Information and communication technology [ICT] specially adapted for implementation of business processes of specific business sectors, e.g. utilities or tourism healthcare informatics G16H
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/82 Energy audits or management systems therefor

Abstract

An automated method and system are provided for facilitating monitoring of energy usage within a data center. The method includes automatically determining energy usage of one or more electronics racks of a data center by automatically ascertaining time-based energy usage of the electronics racks. The automatically ascertaining includes obtaining multiple measurements of instantaneous energy usage by each of the electronics racks in the data center over a period of time, and then separately averaging the multiple measurements for each electronics rack to obtain the time-based energy usage of each electronics racks. The method also includes outputting the time-based energy usage of the electronic(s) racks to facilitate monitoring of the data center.

Claims

1. A method of facilitating monitoring a data center, the method comprising:

employing at least one rack monitor unit associated with at least one electronics rack in automatically determining energy usage of the at least one electronics rack of the data center, the automatically determining including automatically ascertaining an averaged, time-based energy usage of the at least one electronics rack, wherein the automatically ascertaining comprises obtaining multiple measurements of actual, instantaneous energy usage of the at least one electronics rack over a period of time, and averaging the multiple measurements to obtain the averaged, time-based energy usage of the at least one electronics rack;

employing at least one cooling monitor unit associated with at least one cooling unit of the data center in automatically determining energy usage of the at least one cooling unit, the automatically determining including automatically ascertaining an averaged, time-based energy usage of the at least one cooling unit over the same period of time as the averaged, time-based energy usage of the at least one electronics rack, wherein the automatically ascertaining comprises obtaining multiple measurements of actual, instantaneous energy usage of the at least one cooling unit over the period of time, and averaging the multiple measurements to obtain the averaged, time-based energy usage of the at least one cooling unit; and

outputting the averaged, time-based energy usages of the at least one electronics rack and the at least one cooling unit to facilitate monitoring of the data center.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one cooling unit is at least one computer room air-conditioning unit of the data center.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising employing the averaged, time-based energy usage of the at least one electronics rack in automatically determining a time-based cost of energy consumed by the at least one electronics rack, and employing the averaged, time-based energy usage of the at least one computer room air-conditioning unit in automatically determining a time-based cost of energy consumed by the at least one computer room air-conditioning unit.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the averaged, time-based energy usage of the at least one electronics rack comprises hourly energy usage of the at least one electronics rack, and the averaged, time-based energy usage of the at least one computer room air-conditioning unit comprises hourly energy usage of the at least one computer room air-conditioning unit.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the data center comprises:

a plurality of electronics racks, and

wherein the automatically determining comprises automatically determining energy usage of each electronics rack of the plurality of electronics racks in the data center, the automatically determining including automatically ascertaining the averaged, time-based energy usage of each electronics rack over the same period of time, and

wherein the automatically ascertaining includes obtaining multiple measurements of instantaneous energy usage of each electronics rack over the period of time, and averaging the multiple measurements for each electronics rack to obtain the averaged, time-based energy usage of each electronics rack of the plurality of electronics racks in the data center, and

wherein the outputting comprises outputting the averaged, time-based energy usage of each electronics rack of the plurality of electronics racks to facilitate monitoring of the data center.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the outputting comprises employing the at least one rack monitor unit associated with the at least one electronics rack in displaying the time-based energy usage of the at least one electronics rack.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the data center comprises a plurality of electronics racks arranged in a plurality of zones, and wherein the method further comprises automatically determining zonal energy usage within at least one zone of the plurality of zones of the data center, the at least one zone comprising multiple electronics racks of the plurality of electronics racks, and wherein the automatically determining zonal energy usage comprises automatically ascertaining averaged, time-based energy usage of the multiple electronics racks in the at least one zone by obtaining multiple measurements of actual, instantaneous energy usage of the multiple electronics racks in the at least one zone over the period of time, and averaging the multiple measurements to obtain the averaged, time-based energy usage of the at least one zone, the averaged, time-based energy usage of the at least one zone being the zonal energy usage of the multiple electronics racks in the at least one zone, and the outputting comprises outputting zonal energy usage of the multiple electronics racks in the at least one zone to facilitate monitoring of the data center.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the at least one zone of the data center further comprises the at least one cooling unit, and the at least one cooling unit is at least one computer room air-conditioning unit, and wherein the method further comprises automatically determining energy usage of the at least one computer room air-conditioning unit in the at least one zone, the automatically determining energy usage of the at least one computer room air-conditioning unit within the at least one zone comprising automatically obtaining the averaged, time-based energy usage of the at least one computer room air-conditioning unit within the at least one zone, and the outputting further comprises outputting zonal energy usage of the at least one computer room air-conditioning unit in the at least one zone to facilitate monitoring of the data center.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising employing the averaged, time-based energy usage of the multiple electronics racks in the at least one zone in automatically determining a time-based cost of energy consumed by the multiple electronics racks in the at least one zone, and employing the averaged, time-based energy usage of the at least one computer room air-conditioning unit in the at least one zone in automatically determining a time-based cost of energy consumed by the at least one computer room air-conditioning unit in the at least one zone.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

automatically determining cooling energy efficiency of the at least one zone expressed as a coefficient of performance, the coefficient of performance being determined as a ratio of the averaged, time-based energy usage of the multiple electronics racks in the at least one zone to the averaged, time-based energy usage of the at least one computer room air-conditioning unit in the at least one zone, and

automatically determining a time-based, total energy usage of the at least one zone by summing the averaged, time-based energy usage of the multiple electronics racks in the at least one zone and the averaged, time-based energy usage of the at least one computer room air-conditioning unit in the at least one zone, and

automatically determining a time-based, total cost of energy consumed within the at least one zone by automatically summing the time-based cost of energy consumed by the multiple electronics racks in the at least one zone and the time-based cost of energy consumed by the at least one computer room air-conditioning unit in the at least one zone, and

wherein the outputting further comprises outputting the cooling energy efficiency of the at least one zone, the time-based, total energy usage of the at least one zone, and the time-based, total cost of energy consumed within the at least one zone.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the data center comprises a plurality of electronics racks and at least one computer room air-conditioning unit, and wherein the method further comprises:

automatically determining energy usage characteristics of the data center, the energy usage characteristics comprising;

time-based energy usage of the plurality of electronics racks within the data center;

time-based cost of the energy consumed by the plurality of electronics racks in the data center;

time-based energy usage of the at least one computer room air-conditioning unit in the data center;

time-based cost of energy consumed by the at least one computer room air-conditioning unit in the data center;

data center cooling energy efficient expressed as a coefficient of performance defined by the ratio of time-based energy usage of the plurality of electronics racks in the data center to time-based energy usage of the at least one computer room air-conditioning unit in the data center;

total time-based energy usage within the data center;

total time-based cost of energy consumed within the data center over the period of time; and

wherein the outputting comprises automatically outputting the energy usage characteristics to facilitate monitoring of the data center.

12. A system for monitoring a data center, the system comprising:

at least one rack monitor unit associated with at least one electronics rack of the data center for monitoring energy use thereof;

at least one instantaneous rack power measurement component associated with the at least one electronics rack of the data center, each instantaneous rack power measurement component of the at least one instantaneous rack power measurement component being coupled to a respective rack monitor unit of the at least one rack monitor unit;

wherein the at least one rack monitor unit automatically determines energy usage of the associated at least one electronics rack by automatically ascertaining an averaged, time-based energy usage of the at least one electronics rack employing the at least one instantaneous rack power measurement component, the automatically ascertaining including obtaining multiple measurements of actual, instantaneous energy usage of the associated at least one electronics rack over a period of time, and averaging the multiple measurements to obtain the averaged, time-based energy usage of the associated at least one electronics rack, and wherein the at least one rack monitor unit outputs the time-based energy usage of the associated at least one electronics rack to facilitate monitoring of the data center; and

wherein the data center comprises at least one cooling unit, and the system further comprises at least one cooling monitor unit associated with the at least one cooling unit of the data center for monitoring energy usage thereof, and at least one instantaneous cooling power measurement component associated with the at least one cooling unit of the data center, each instantaneous cooling power measurement component being coupled to a respective cooling monitor unit of the at least one cooling monitor unit, and wherein the at least one cooling monitor unit automatically determines energy usage of the associated at least one cooling unit by automatically obtaining averaged, time-based energy usage of the at least one cooling unit employing the at least one instantaneous cooling power measurement component, the automatically obtaining including obtaining multiple measurements of actual, instantaneous energy usage of the at least one cooling unit over the period of time and averaging the multiple measurements for the at least one cooling unit to obtain the averaged, time-based energy usage of the at least one cooling unit, and wherein the at least one cooling monitor unit outputs the averaged, time-based energy usage of the associated at least one cooling unit to facilitate monitoring of the data center.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the at least one cooling unit is at least one computer room air-conditioning unit of the data center.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the at least one rack monitor unit employs the averaged, time-based energy usage of the at least one electronics rack in automatically determining a time-based cost of energy consumed by the at least one electronics rack, and the at least one cooling monitor unit employs the averaged, time-based energy usage of the at least one computer room air-conditioning unit in automatically determining a time-based cost of energy consumed by the at least one computer room air-conditioning unit, and wherein the at least one rack monitor unit outputs the time-based cost of energy consumed by the at least one electronics rack, and the at least one cooling monitor unit outputs the time-based cost of energy consumed by the at least one computer room air-conditioning unit.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the data center comprises:

a plurality of electronics racks, and

wherein the system further comprises at least one zonal monitor unit associated with multiple electronics racks of the plurality of electronics racks, and multiple instantaneous rack power measurement components associated with the multiple electronics racks of the plurality of electronics racks of the data center, each instantaneous rack power measurement component being coupled to the at least one zonal monitor unit, and

wherein the at least one zonal monitor unit automatically determines zonal energy usage within at least one zone of the data center, the at least one zone comprising the multiple electronics racks of the plurality of electronics racks, and the automatically determining zonal energy usage comprises automatically ascertaining averaged, time-based energy usage of the multiple electronics racks in the at least one zone over the save time period, and

outputting the zonal energy usage of the multiple electronics racks in the at least one zone to facilitate monitoring of the data center.

16. The system of claim 12, wherein the data center comprises a plurality of electronics racks and at least one computer room air-conditioning unit, and wherein the system further comprises a data center monitor unit, a plurality of rack monitor units associated with the plurality of electronics, racks of the data center for monitoring energy usage thereof, and at least one air-conditioning monitor unit associated with the at least one computer room air-conditioning monitoring unit for monitoring energy usage thereof, the plurality of rack monitor units and the at least one air-conditioning unit being coupled to the data center monitor unit for automatically determining energy usage characteristics of the data center, the energy usage characteristics comprising:

time-based energy usage of the plurality of electronics racks within the data center;

time-based cost of the energy consumed by the plurality of electronics racks in the data center;

time-based energy usage of the at least one computer room air-conditioning unit in the data center;

time-based cost of energy consumed by the at least one computer room air-conditioning unit in the data center;

data center cooling energy efficient expressed as a coefficient of performance defined by the ratio of time-based energy usage of the plurality of electronics racks in the data center to time-based energy usage of the at least one computer room air-conditioning unit in the data center;

total time-based energy usage within the data center;

total time-based cost of energy consumed within the data center over the period of time; and

wherein the outputting comprises automatically outputting the energy usage characteristics to facilitate monitoring of the data center.

17. A data center comprising:

at least one electronics rack; and

a system for monitoring energy usage of the at least one electronics rack, said system comprising;

at least one rack monitor unit associated with the at least one electronics rack for monitoring energy usage thereof;

at least one instantaneous rack power measurement component associated with the at least one electronics rack of the data center, each instantaneous rack power measurement component of the at least one instantaneous rack power measurement component being coupled to a respective rack monitor unit of the at least one rack monitor unit;

wherein the at least one rack monitor unit automatically determines energy usage of the associated at least one electronics rack by automatically ascertaining an averaged, time-based energy usage of the at least one electronics rack employing the at least one instantaneous rack power measurement component, the automatically ascertaining including obtaining multiple measurements of actual, instantaneous energy usage of the associated at least one electronics rack over a period of time, and averaging the multiple measurements to obtain the averaged time-based energy usage of the associated at least one electronics rack, and wherein the at least one rack monitor unit outputs the time-based energy usage of the associated at least one electronics rack to facilitate monitoring of the data center; and

wherein the data center comprises at least one cooling unit, and the system further comprises at least one cooling monitor unit associated with the at least one cooling unit of the data center for monitoring energy usage thereof, and at least one instantaneous cooling power measurement component associated with the at least one cooling unit of the data center, each instantaneous cooling power measurement component being coupled to a respective cooling monitor unit of the at least one cooling monitor unit, and wherein the at least one cooling monitor unit automatically determines energy usage of the associated at least one cooling unit by automatically obtaining averaged, time-based energy usage of the at least one cooling unit employing the at least one instantaneous cooling power measurement component, the automatically obtaining including obtaining multiple measurements of actual, instantaneous energy usage of the at least one cooling unit over the period of time and averaging the multiple measurements for the at least one cooling unit to obtain the averaged, time-based energy usage of the at least one cooling unit, and wherein the at least one cooling monitor unit outputs the averaged, time-based energy usage of the associated at least one cooling unit to facilitate monitoring of the data center.

18. The data center of claim 17, wherein the at least one cooling unit is at least one computer room air-conditioning unit of the data center.

19. The data center of claim 18, wherein the at least one rack monitor unit employs the averaged, time-based energy usage of the at least one electronics rack in automatically determining a time-based cost of energy consumed by the at least one electronics rack, and the at least one cooling monitor unit employs the averaged, time-based energy usage of the at least one computer room air-conditioning unit in automatically determining a time-based cost of energy consumed by the at least one computer room cooling unit, and wherein the at least one rack monitor unit outputs the time-based cost of energy consumed by the at least one electronics rack, and the at least one air-conditioning monitor unit outputs the time-based cost of energy consumed by the at least one computer room air-conditioning unit.

20. The data center of claim 17, wherein the data center further comprises:

a plurality of electronics racks,

at least one zonal monitor unit associated with multiple electronics racks of the plurality of electronics racks, and

multiple instantaneous rack power measurement components associated with the multiple electronics racks of the plurality of electronics racks of the data center, each instantaneous rack power measurement component being coupled to the at least one zonal monitor unit, and

wherein the at least one zonal monitor unit automatically determines zonal energy usage within at least one zone of the data center, the at least one zone comprising the multiple electronics racks of the plurality of electronics racks, and the automatically determining zonal energy usage comprises;

automatically ascertaining averaged, time-based energy usage of the multiple electronics racks in the at least one zone over the same time period, and

outputting the zonal energy usage of the multiple electronics racks in the at least one zone to facilitate monitoring of the data center.