System and method for dynamically managing blowers and vents

• US 8,180,494 B2
• Filed: 08/27/2008
• Issued: 05/15/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/27/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Dawson, Christopher J., Diluoffo, Vincenzo V., Hamilton, Rick A. II, Kendzierski, Michael D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Ramesh
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chang, Sunray
• Application Number:
  US12/199,370
• Publication Number:
  US 20100057259A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,357 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 700/278
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2642 Domotique, domestic, home control, automation, smart house

Abstract

A method implemented in a computer infrastructure having computer executable code tangibly embodied on a computer readable medium being operable to perform a thermal analysis of a data center and overlay the thermal analysis on a map of the data center to provide an overlaid thermal analysis. Additionally, the computer executable code is operable to dynamically control at least one blower and at least one vent in the data center based on the overlaid thermal analysis to direct cool air to a section of the data center in need of cooling.

Claims

1. A method implemented in a computer infrastructure comprising computer executable code tangibly embodied on a computer readable medium being operable to:

perform a thermal analysis of a data center;

overlay the thermal analysis on a map of the data center to provide an overlaid thermal analysis, the map comprising one or more indications of one or more portions of computing resources of the data center that are to be maintained in cool environments and one or more indications of one or more portions of the computing resources that are to operate in higher temperature environments than the cool environments;

dynamically control at least one blower and at least one vent in the data center based on the overlaid thermal analysis to direct cool air to a section of the data center in need of cooling;

update the thermal analysis and the overlaid thermal analysis upon the occurrence of a temperature change in the data center beyond a predetermined threshold;

update the thermal analysis and the overlaid thermal analysis upon the occurrence of a computational resource usage change in the data center beyond a predetermined threshold;

prioritize the one or more portions of the computing resources that are to operate in the higher temperature environments based on, in each of the one or more portions of the computing resources that are to operate in the higher temperature environments, at least one of;

one or more applications being processed;

a rate of change of temperature;

a rate of change of humidity; and

a risk of overheating one or more servers; and

dynamically control the at least one blower and the at least one vent in the data center further based on the prioritizing of the one or more portions of the computing resources that are to operate in the higher temperature environments.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the computer readable medium is further operable to dynamically control an HVAC system based on the overlaid thermal analysis and a location of the at least one blower and at least one vent.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the HVAC system is dynamically controllable to alter at least one of an air flow rate and an air flow temperature of at least one of a hotter region of the data center and a cooler region of the data center.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising updating the thermal analysis and the overlaid thermal analysis after a predetermined time has expired.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising at least one of dynamically controlling the at least one blower and at least one vent in the data center and dynamically controlling an HVAC system based on the updating.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one vent comprises at least one actuator and at least one louver, and the actuator automatically moves the louver to direct airflow towards a section of the data center in need of cooling based on the overlaid thermal analysis, and at least one blower is actuated to supply cool air through at least one vent towards the section of the data center in need of cooling based on the overlaid thermal analysis.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one blower and the at least one vent at least one of:

directs cool air towards a hotter section or region of the data center while restricting or preventing cool air flow towards a cooler section or region of the data center;

directs cool air to a region of the data center where a job is scheduled while restricting or preventing cool air flow towards a region of the data center not being utilized; and

removes hot air from a hotter section or region of the data center while restricting or preventing removal of air from a cooler section or region of the data center.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising updating the thermal analysis and the overlaid thermal analysis upon the occurrence of a triggering event or a manual direction.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the triggering event comprises at least one of:

the temperature change in the data center beyond a predetermined threshold; and

the computational resource usage change in the data center.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein performing the thermal analysis comprises:

receiving real-time temperature readings from at least one temperature sensor in the data center; and

at least one of;

determining average temperatures for regions of the data center based on the real-time temperature readings; and

determining air flow paths in the data center.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the map of the data center comprises at least one of:

a physical layout of the computing resources of the data center; and

a real-time indication of the computing resources that are currently operating.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least one blower and the at least one vent at least one of:

directs cool air towards a hotter section or region of the data center while restricting or preventing cool air flow towards a cooler section or region of the data center;

directs cool air to a region of the data center where a job is scheduled while restricting or preventing cool air flow towards a region of the data center not being utilized; and

removes hot air from a hotter section or region of the data center while restricting or preventing removal of air from a cooler section or region of the data center.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein at least one of:

cool air is directed to a section in need of cooling from at least one vent located nearest the section while restricting or preventing cool air flow from at least one vent located further away from the section; and

hot air is removed from a section in need of cooling from at least one vent located nearest the section while restricting or preventing removal of air from at least one vent located further away from the section.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein a service provider at least one of creates, maintains, deploys and supports the computer infrastructure that performs the steps of claim 1.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein steps of claim 1 are provided by a service provider on a subscription, advertising, and/or fee basis.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one blower and the at least one vent in the data center is dynamically-controlled to direct a first stream of cool air to a first section of the data center in need of cooling and to direct a second stream of cool air to a second section of the data center in need of cooling, the first stream and the second stream directed at an angle to each other.

17. A system, comprising:

a thermal analysis tool configured to perform a thermal analysis of a data center;

a mapping tool configured to overlay the thermal analysis over a map of the data center to provide an overlaid thermal analysis; and

a blower and vent control tool configured to dynamically control at least one blower and at least one vent in the data center based on the overlaid thermal analysis,

wherein the thermal analysis tool updates the thermal analysis and the mapping tool updates the overlaid thermal analysis, upon the occurrence of a triggering event comprising at least one of;

a temperature change in the data center beyond a predetermined threshold; and

a computational resource usage change in the data center,

wherein the thermal analysis tool prioritizes one or more portions of computing resources of the data center that are to operate in higher temperature environments based on, in each of the one or more portions of the computing resources that are to operate in the higher temperature environments, at least one of;

one or more applications being processed;

a rate of change of temperature;

a rate of change of humidity; and

a risk of overheating one or more servers; and

wherein the blower and vent control tool dynamically controls the at least one blower and the at least one vent in the data center further based on the prioritizing of the one or more portions of the computing resources that are to operate in the higher temperature environments.

18. The system of claim 17, further comprising a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) control tool configured to control an HVAC system based on the overlaid thermal analysis.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the HVAC system is dynamically controllable to alter at least one of an air flow rate and an air flow temperature between a hotter region of the data center and a cooler region of the data center.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein:

the at least one vent comprises at least one actuator and at least one louver, and the actuator is configured to automatically move the louver to direct airflow towards a section of the data center in need of cooling based on the overlaid thermal analysis, and the at least one blower is configured to supply cool air through the at least one vent towards the section of the data center in need of cooling based on the overlaid thermal analysis.

21. The system of claim 17, wherein at least one of:

cool air is directed to a section in need of cooling from at least one vent located nearest the section while restricting or preventing cool air flow from at least one vent located further away from the section; and

hot air is removed from a section in need of cooling from at least one vent located nearest the section while restricting or preventing removal of air from at least one vent located further away from the section.

22. The system of claim 17, comprising a computer infrastructure operable to implement the thermal analysis tool, the mapping tool, and the blower and vent control tool, wherein a service provider at least one of creates, maintains, deploys and supports the computer infrastructure.

23. The system of claim 17, wherein the system is operable on software, hardware or a combination of software and hardware.

24. A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having readable program code embodied in the medium, the computer program product includes at least one component operable to:

perform a thermal analysis of a data center by receiving real-time temperature readings from at least one temperature sensor in the data center; and

at least one of;

determine average temperatures for regions of the data center based on the real-time temperature readings; and

determine air flow paths in the data center;

overlay the thermal analysis on a map of the data center to provide an overlaid thermal analysis, the map comprising an indication of a portion of computing resources of the data center that is to be maintained in a cool environment and an indication of a portion of the computing resources that is to operate in higher temperature environments than the cool environment;

dynamically control at least one blower and at least one vent in the data center based on the overlaid thermal analysis;

dynamically control an HVAC system based on the overlaid thermal analysis and a location of the at least one blower and the at least one vent;

prioritize the portion of the computing resources that is to operate in the higher temperature environments based on, in the portion of the computing resources that is to operate in the higher temperature environments, at least one of;

one or more applications being processed;

a rate of change of temperature;

a rate of change of humidity; and

a risk of overheating one or more servers; and

dynamically control the at least one blower and the at least one vent in the data center further based on the prioritizing of the portion of the computing resources that is to operate in the higher temperature environments.

25. A method comprising:

providing a computer infrastructure operable to;

perform a thermal analysis of a data center to identify cooler regions of the data center and hotter regions of the data center;

overlay the thermal analysis on a map of the data center to provide an overlaid thermal analysis which correlates the cooler regions of the data center and the hotter regions of the data center with computational resources of the data center, the map comprising an indication of a portion of the computing resources that is to be maintained in a cool environment and an indication of a portion of the computing resources that is to operate in higher temperature environments than the cool environment;

dynamically control at least one blower and at least one vent in the data center based on the overlaid thermal analysis;

dynamically control an HVAC system based on the overlaid thermal analysis and a location of the at least one blower and the at least one vent;

prioritize the portion of the computing resources that is to operate in the higher temperature environments based on, in the portion of the computing resources that is to operate in the higher temperature environments, at least one of;

one or more applications being processed;

a rate of change of temperature;

a rate of change of humidity; and

a risk of overheating one or more servers; and

dynamically control the at least one blower and the at least one vent in the data center further based on the prioritizing of the portion of the computing resources that is to operate in the higher temperature environments.