Source aware data center power profiles

• US 8,645,150 B2
• Filed: 04/12/2010
• Issued: 02/04/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/12/2010
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Akers, Jason B., Clay, Ross B., Hollinger, Michael C., Holt, Ryan A., Jones, Perry L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kelley, Heidi
• Application Number:
  US12/758,341
• Publication Number:
  US 20110251966A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,394 Days
• Field of Search: 705/1.1
• US Class Current: 705/1.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/30 Administration of product recycling or disposal
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/018 Certifying business or products
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/84 Greenhouse gas [GHG] management systems
• CPC Class Codes: Y02W 90/00 Enabling technologies or technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to greenhouse gas [GHG] emissions mitigation

Abstract

Carbon values are provided by vendors of power to data center management and are used by data center management to keep carbon values for energy produced to provide services below service level agreement thresholds. A plurality of vendor carbon values, a plurality of static data, and a plurality of dynamic data are used to calculate a future power consumption and a future operating cost for a data center in a computing service environment. The future operating cost includes a future carbon cost indicating the amount of carbon generated to satisfy the future power consumption.

Claims

1. A method for managing power supply to a data center, the method comprising the steps of:

a computer determining a total carbon value for all power supplied to the data center from power vendors based on data supplied by the vendors correlating types of production of the power to respective carbon generation;

the computer determining a lowest threshold carbon value specified in any of a plurality of service level agreements between the data center and a respective plurality of customers of the data center;

the computer determining whether the total carbon value exceeds the lowest threshold carbon value;

the computer, responsive to determining that the total carbon value exceeds the lowest threshold carbon value, identifying a change to the type of production of the power to the data center that will reduce the total carbon value to a number less than the lowest threshold carbon value.

2. The method of claim 1, further:

the computer identifying a plurality of power requirements for running a plurality of resources at a data center;

the computer identifying a plurality of potential vendors, each of the plurality of potential vendors capable of supplying at least a portion of the plurality of power requirements;

the computer contacting each of the plurality of potential vendors;

the computer informing each of the plurality of potential vendors that in order to qualify as a vendor with the data center, the potential vendor must provide a carbon value, the carbon value being a numeral representing a quantity of carbon produced by the potential vendor to generate a unit of energy, and the potential vendor must provide a cost of the potential vendor to generate the unit of energy;

the computer determining whether each of the plurality of potential vendors has provided a carbon value; and

the computer, responsive to determining that a potential vendor has provided a carbon value, entering the provided carbon value into a file for the potential vendor that has provided the carbon value.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

the computer negotiating a service level agreement with a customer;

the computer determining whether an environmental criteria is part of the service level agreement;

the computer, responsive to determining that the environmental criteria is part of the service level agreement, identifying a threshold carbon value; and

the computer, responsive to determining the threshold carbon value, entering the threshold carbon value into the service level agreement.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

the computer identifying each of a plurality of clients of the data center;

the computer identifying a threshold carbon value for each of the plurality of clients;

the computer identifying a plurality of vendors supplying power, each of the vendors supplying power performing a service level agreement for at least one of the clients;

the computer calculating a total carbon value for all of the vendors supplying power;

the computer determining whether the total carbon value exceeds a lowest threshold carbon value of all of a plurality of service level agreements, each of the plurality of service level agreements corresponding to one of the clients; and

the computer, responsive to determining that the lowest threshold carbon value has not been exceeded, setting a list of vendors for a period of time.

5. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

the computer identifying a client;

the computer identifying an assigned data center for the client;

the computer identifying a plurality of power vendors for the assigned data center;

the computer calculating an average carbon value of all carbon values of the plurality of power vendors;

the computer determining whether the average carbon value exceeds a threshold carbon value specified by the client in a service level agreement; and

the computer, when the threshold carbon value is exceeded, changing the assigned data center to another data center.

6. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

the computer obtaining a plurality of carbon values from a plurality of vendors;

the computer obtaining a plurality of service level agreement threshold carbon values;

the computer retrieving a plurality of static data from a computing system of the data center;

the computer retrieving a plurality of dynamic data from a monitoring system connected to the computing system;

the computer calculating a prediction using the plurality of static data and the plurality of dynamic data; and

the computer optimizing using the prediction, a plurality of data center assignments to meet a service level agreement threshold carbon value of each client of a plurality of clients of the data center.

7. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

the computer identifying a client;

the computer identifying an assigned data center for the client;

the computer identifying a plurality of power vendors for the assigned data center;

the computer calculating an average carbon value of all carbon values of the plurality of power vendors;

the computer determining whether the average carbon value exceeds a threshold carbon value specified by the client in a service level agreement; and

the computer, when the threshold carbon value is not exceeded, running a job for the client.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

the computer identifying each of a plurality of clients of the data center;

the computer identifying a threshold carbon value for each of the plurality of clients;

the computer identifying a plurality of vendors supplying power, each of the vendors supplying power performing a service level agreement for at least one of the clients.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

the computer, responsive to making a vendor change, re-calculating a total carbon value for all of the service level agreements;

the computer, responsive to re-calculating a total carbon value for all of the service level agreements, determining whether the lowest threshold carbon value is not exceeded; and

the computer, responsive to determining that the lowest threshold carbon value is not exceeded, re-setting a vendor list for a period of time.

10. A system for providing data center services in accordance with an environmental requirement, the system comprising:

one or more processors, one or more computer readable memories, one or more computer readable storage devices, and program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer readable storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or memories, the program instructions comprising;

program instructions to acquire a plurality of dynamic data comprising a plurality of workload characteristics, a plurality of current workload data, a plurality of historic power consumption data, a plurality of workload inflow rates, and a plurality of workflow outflow rates;

program instructions to acquire from a static data interface a plurality of peak rate data, a plurality of power source characteristics, a plurality of data center characteristics, and a plurality of data transport costs; and

program instructions to use a plurality of power vendor data, the plurality of dynamic data and a plurality of static data, to calculate a future power consumption and a future operating cost;

wherein the future operating cost includes a future carbon cost indicating an amount of carbon associated with satisfying the future power consumption.

11. The system of claim 10 further comprising:

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer readable storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or memories, to identify a plurality of power requirements for running a plurality of resources at a data center;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer readable storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or memories, to identify a plurality of potential vendors, each of the plurality of potential vendors capable of supplying at least a portion of the plurality of power requirements;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer readable storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or memories, to contact each of the plurality of potential vendors;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer readable storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or memories, to inform each of the plurality of potential vendors that in order to qualify as a vendor with the data center, the potential vendor must provide a carbon value, the carbon value being a numeral representing a quantity of carbon produced by the potential vendor to generate a unit of energy, and the potential vendor must provide a cost of the potential vendor to generate the unit of energy;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer readable storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or memories, to determine whether each of the plurality of potential vendors has provided a carbon value; and

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer readable storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or memories, responsive to determining that a potential vendor has provided a carbon value, to enter the provided carbon value into a file for the potential vendor that has provided the carbon value.

12. The system of claim 10, further comprising:

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer readable storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or memories, to determine whether environmental criteria are part of each of a plurality of service level agreements;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer readable storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or memories, responsive to determining that the environmental criteria are part of each of the plurality of service level agreements, to enter a threshold carbon value in each of the plurality of service level agreements;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer readable storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or memories, to identify each of a plurality of clients of a data center;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer readable storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or memories, to identify a threshold carbon value for each of the plurality of clients;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer readable storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or memories, to identify a plurality of vendors supplying power, each of the vendors supplying power performing a service level agreement for at least one of the clients;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer readable storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or memories, to calculate a total carbon value for all of the vendors supplying power;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer readable storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or memories, to determine whether the total carbon value exceeds a lowest threshold carbon value of all of a plurality of service level agreements, each of the plurality of service level agreements corresponding to one of the clients;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer readable storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or memories, responsive to determining that the lowest threshold carbon value has been exceeded, to identify a vendor change that will reduce the total carbon value to a number less than the lowest threshold carbon value;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer readable storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or memories, responsive to making a vendor change, to re-calculate a total carbon value for all of the service level agreements; and

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer readable storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or memories, responsive to re-calculating a total carbon value for all of the service level agreements and confirming that the lowest threshold carbon value is not exceeded, to set a list of vendors for a period of time.

13. The system of claim 10 further comprising:

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer readable storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or memories, to identify a client;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer readable storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or memories, to identify an assigned data center for the client;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer readable storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or memories, to identify a plurality of power vendors for the assigned data center;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer readable storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or memories, to calculate an average carbon value of all carbon values of the plurality of power vendors;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer readable storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or memories, to determine whether the average carbon value exceeds a threshold carbon value specified by the client in a service level agreement;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer readable storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or memories, when the threshold is exceeded, to change the assigned data center to another data center; and

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer readable storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or memories, when the threshold is not exceeded, to run a job for the client.

14. A computer program product comprising:

one or more computer readable storage devices and program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer readable storage devices, the program instructions comprising;

program instructions to determine whether environmental criteria are part of each of a plurality of service level agreements;

program instructions responsive to determining that the environmental criteria are part of each of the plurality of service level agreements, to identify a threshold carbon value in each of the plurality of service level agreements;

program instructions to identify each of a plurality of clients of a data center;

program instructions, to identify a threshold carbon value for each of the plurality of clients;

program instructions to identify a plurality of vendors supplying power, each of the vendors supplying power performing a service level agreement for at least one of the clients;

program instructions to calculate a total carbon value for all of the vendors supplying power;

program instructions to determine whether the total carbon value exceeds a lowest threshold carbon value of all of a plurality of service level agreements, each of the plurality of service level agreements corresponding to one of the clients;

program instructions, responsive to determining that the lowest threshold carbon value has been exceeded, to identify a vendor change that will reduce the total carbon value to a number less than the lowest threshold carbon value;

program instructions, responsive to making a vendor change, to re-calculate a total carbon value for all of the service level agreements; and

program instructions, responsive to re-calculating the total carbon value for all of the service level agreements and confirming that the lowest threshold carbon value is not exceeded, to set a list of vendors for a period of time.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, further:

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer readable storage mediums, to identify a plurality of power requirements for running a plurality of resources at a data center;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer readable storage mediums, to identify a plurality of potential vendors, each of the plurality of potential vendors capable of supplying at least a portion of the plurality of power requirements;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer readable storage mediums, to contact each of the plurality of potential vendors;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer readable storage mediums, to inform each of the plurality of potential vendors that in order to qualify as a vendor with the data center, the potential vendor must provide a carbon value, the carbon value being a numeral representing a quantity of carbon produced by the potential vendor to generate a unit of energy, and the potential vendor must provide a cost of the potential vendor to generate the unit of energy;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer readable storage mediums, to determine whether each of the plurality of potential vendors has provided a carbon value; and

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer readable storage mediums, responsive to determining that a potential vendor has provided a carbon value, to enter the provided carbon value file for the potential vendor that has provided the carbon value.

16. The computer program product of claim 15 further comprising:

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer readable storage mediums, to identify a client;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer readable storage mediums, to identify an assigned data center for the client;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer readable storage mediums, to identify a plurality of power vendors for the assigned data center;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer readable storage mediums, to calculate an average carbon value of all carbon values of the plurality of power vendors;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer readable storage mediums, to determine whether the average carbon value exceeds a threshold carbon value specified by the client in a service level agreement;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer readable storage mediums, when the threshold is exceeded, to change the assigned data center to another data center; and

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer readable storage mediums, when the threshold is not exceeded, to run a job for the client.

17. A method for providing data center services in accordance with an environmental requirement, the method comprising:

acquiring a plurality of dynamic data comprising a plurality of workload characteristics, a plurality of current workload data, a plurality of historic power consumption data, a plurality of workload inflow rates, and a plurality of workflow outflow rates;

acquiring from a static data interface a plurality of peak rate data, a plurality of power source characteristics, a plurality of data center characteristics, and a plurality of data transport costs; and

using a plurality of power vendor data, the plurality of dynamic data and a plurality of static data, to calculate a future power consumption and a future operating cost;

wherein the future operating cost includes a future carbon cost indicating an amount of carbon associated with satisfying the future power consumption.

18. The method of claim 17 further comprising:

identifying a plurality of power requirements for running a plurality of resources at a data center;

identifying a plurality of potential vendors, each of the plurality of potential vendors capable of supplying at least a portion of the plurality of power requirements;

contacting each of the plurality of potential vendors;

informing each of the plurality of potential vendors that in order to qualify as a vendor with the data center, the potential vendor must provide a carbon value, the carbon value being a numeral representing a quantity of carbon produced by the potential vendor to generate a unit of energy, and the potential vendor must provide a cost of the potential vendor to generate the unit of energy;

determining whether each of the plurality of potential vendors has provided a carbon value; and

responsive to determining that a potential vendor has provided a carbon value, entering the provided carbon value into a file for the potential vendor that has provided the carbon value.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

determining whether environmental criteria are part of each of a plurality of service level agreements;

responsive to determining that the environmental criteria are part of each of the plurality of service level agreements, entering a threshold carbon value in each of the plurality of service level agreements;

identifying each of a plurality of clients of a data center;

identifying a threshold carbon value for each of the plurality of clients;

identifying a plurality of vendors supplying power, each of the vendors supplying power performing a service level agreement for at least one of the clients;

calculating a total carbon value for all of the vendors supplying power;

determining whether the total carbon value exceeds a lowest threshold carbon value of all of a plurality of service level agreements, each of the plurality of service level agreements corresponding to one of the clients;

responsive to determining that the lowest threshold carbon value has been exceeded, identifying a vendor change that will reduce the total carbon value to a number less than the lowest threshold carbon value;

responsive to making a vendor change, re-calculating a total carbon value for all of the service level agreements; and

responsive to re-calculating a total carbon value for all of the service level agreements and confirming that the lowest threshold carbon value is not exceeded, setting a list of vendors for a period of time.

20. The method of claim 17 further comprising:

identifying a client;

identifying an assigned data center for the client;

identifying a plurality of power vendors for the assigned data center;

calculating an average carbon value of all carbon values of the plurality of power vendors;

determining whether the average carbon value exceeds a threshold carbon value specified by the client in a service level agreement;

when the threshold is exceeded, changing the assigned data center to another data center; and

when the threshold is not exceeded, running a job for the client.