Fan speed control of rack devices where sum of device airflows is greater than maximum airflow of rack

• US 8,805,590 B2
• Filed: 12/24/2009
• Issued: 08/12/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/24/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lenovo International Limited (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Bahali, Sumanta K., Kamath, Vinod, Foster, Jimmy G. Sr.
• Primary Examiner(s): Padmanabhan, Kavita
• Assistant Examiner(s): Everett, Christopher E
• Application Number:
  US12/647,357
• Publication Number:
  US 20110160916A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,692 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 700/282
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 23/1934 each space being provided with one sensor acting on one or more control means
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/20736 within cabinets for removing heat from server blades
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/20836 Thermal management, e.g. server temperature control

Abstract

Computing devices have fan speeds governing airflows through the computing devices. The rack has a maximum airflow associated with a cooling component for the rack. The computing devices transmit their current airflows. A sum of the current airflows is determined. Where the sum is greater than the maximum airflow, the fan speeds of one or more selected computing devices are decreased. The fan speeds of lower priority computing devices may be reduced before the fan speeds higher priority computing devices are reduced. Fan speed reduction may be achieved in a centralized manner, by employing a centralized management component, or in a decentralized manner, without employing a centralized management component.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

individually measuring a current airflow through each computing device of a plurality of computing devices installed within a rack having a maximum airflow associated within a cooling component for the rack, the computing devices having fan speeds governing airflows through the computing devices;

transmitting, by the computing devices the current airflows therethrough;

calculating a sum of the current airflows through the computing devices from the current airflows measured through the computing devices individually; and

choosing one or more selected computing devices of the plurality of computing devices responsive to calculating that the sum of the current airflows is greater than the maximum airflows associated with the cooling component for the rack, as the computing devices that have current fan speeds less than maximum fan speeds at which the fans of the computing devices are operable; and

decreasing the fan speeds of the selected computing devices so that the fans of the computing devices do not together exhaust more air into the rack than the cooling component can exhaust out of the rack,

wherein each computing device, as a given computing device, has a fan to exhaust heat generated within the given computing device into the rack in which the given computing device is installed,

wherein the cooling component for the rack is to exhaust the heat exhausted by the fans of the computing devices into the rack from the rack to outside the rack, the maximum airflow associated with the cooling component being a maximum flow of air that the cooling component is able to remove from the rack,

wherein the maximum airflow associated with the cooling component for the rack is less than a sum of a maximum device airflow associated with each computing device individually,

and wherein the selected computing devices do not immediately throttle one or more of processor instruction execution frequency, hard disk drive platter rotation rate, or memory access frequency, but are now configured to throttle the one or more of processor instruction execution frequency, hard disk drive platter rotation rate, or memory access frequency at a future point of time.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the current airflow through each computing device comprises broadcasting the current airflow from each computing device to all other computing devices installed within the rack,

wherein calculating the sum of the current airflows is performed by each computing device, based on the current airflow broadcast by each computing device,

such that the fan speeds of the selected computing devices are decreased in a decentralized manner, without employing a centralized management component.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the current airflow through each computing device comprises transmitting the current airflow from each computing device to a centralized management component,

wherein calculating the sum of the current airflows is performed by the centralized management component,

and wherein decreasing the fan speeds of the selected computing devices comprises:

instructing, by the centralized management component, each selected computing device to decrease the fan speed thereof,

such that the fan speeds of the selected computing devices are decreased in a centralized manner, by employing the centralized management component.

4. A system comprising:

a rack having a maximum airflow associated with a cooling component for the rack;

a plurality of computing devices installed within the rack, the computing devices having fan speeds governing airflows through the computing devices, each computing devices to individually measure and transmit a current airflow therethrough; and

a component, other than the cooling component, to calculate a sum of the current airflows through the computing devices from the current airflows individually measured through the computing devices, to choose one or more selected computing devices of the plurality of computing devices responsive to calculating that the sum of the current airflows is greater than the maximum airflows associated with the cooling component for the rack, as the computing devices that have current fan speeds less than maximum fan speeds at which the fans of the computing devices are operable, and to decrease the fan speeds of the selected computing devices so that the fans of the computing devices do not together exhaust more air into the rack than the cooling component can exhaust out of the rack,

wherein each computing device, as a given computing device, has a fan to exhaust heat generated within the given computing device into the rack in which the given computing device is installed,

wherein the cooling component for the rack is to exhaust the heat exhausted by the fans of the computing devices into the rack from the rack to outside the rack, the maximum airflow associated with the cooling component being a maximum flow of air that the cooling component is able to remove from the rack,

wherein the maximum airflow associated with the cooling component is less than a sum of a maximum device airflow associated with each computing device individually,

and wherein the selected computing devices do not immediately throttle one or more of processor instruction execution frequency, hard disk drive platter rotation rate, or memory access frequency, but are now configured to throttle the one or more of processor instruction execution frequency, hard disk drive platter rotation rate, or memory access frequency at a future point of time.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the selected computing devices are first selected computing devices, and wherein the component is further to, where the sum of the current airflows is less than the maximum airflow associated with the cooling component for the rack, increase the fan speed of one or more second selected computing devices of the plurality of computing devices.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the component comprises a component at each computing devices,

wherein each computing device is to broadcast the current airflow to all other computing devices installed within the rack,

and wherein each computing device is to calculate the sum of the current airflows,

such that the fan speeds of the selected computing devices are decreased in a decentralized manner, without employing a centralized management component.

7. The system of claim 4, wherein the component is a centralized management component,

wherein the computing devices are to transmit the fan speeds to the centralized management component,

wherein the centralized management component is to calculate the sum of the current airflows,

and wherein the centralized management component is to decrease the fan speeds of the selected computing devices by instructing each selected computing device to decrease the fan speed thereof,

such that the fan speeds of the selected computing devices are decreased in a centralized manner, by employing the centralized management component.

8. A computing device comprising:

a housing to be installed within a rack along with one or more other computing devices, the rack having a maximum airflow associated with a cooling component for the rack;

hardware within the housing; and

,

a component, other than the cooling component, implemented by the hardware to individually measure and transmit a current airflow through the computing device, and to decrease a fan speed of the computing device where the computing device has been selected for fan speed reduction and has a current fan speed less than a maximum fan speed at which a fan of the computing device is operable to exhaust heat generated within the computing device into the rack, responsive to a calculation that a sum of the current airflow through the computing device and individually measured current airflows through the other computing devices is greater than the maximum airflow, so that the computing device and the other computing device do not together exhaust more air into the rack than the cooling component can exhaust out of the rack,

wherein each of the other computing devices, as a given computing device, has a fan to exhaust heat generated within the given computing device into the rack in which the given computing device is installed,

wherein the cooling component for the rack is to exhaust the heat exhausted by the fans of the computing device and the other computing devices into the rack from the rack to outside the rack, the maximum airflow associated with the cooling component being a maximum flow of air that the cooling component is able to remove from the rack,

wherein the fan speed governs airflow through the computing device,

wherein the maximum airflow associated with the cooling component is less than a sum of a maximum device airflow associated with each computing device individually,

and wherein the computing device does not immediately throttle one or more of processor instruction execution frequency, hard disk drive platter rotation rate or memo access frequency, but is now configured to throttle the one or more of processor instruction execution frequency, hard disk drive platter rotation rate, or memory access frequency at a future point of time.

9. The computing device of claim 8, wherein the component is to broadcast the current airflow through the computing device to each other computing device,

wherein the component is to receive the current airflow through each other computing device from each other computing device,

and wherein the component is to calculate the sum of the current airflows.

10. The computing device of claim 8, wherein the component is to transmit the current airflow through the computing device to a centralized management component,

and wherein the component is to receive an instruction from the centralized management component to decrease the fan speed of the computing device where the centralized management component has selected the computing device for fan speed reduction.

11. A data storage device having computer-readable code stored thereon for execution by a processor of a first computing device, the computer-readable code comprising:

first computer-readable code to receive current airflows of a plurality of second computing devices installed within a rack from the second computing devices as individually measured at the second computing devices, the second computing devices having fan speeds governing airflows through the second computing devices, the rack having a maximum airflow associated with a cooling component for the rack;

second computer-readable code to calculate a sum of the current airflows through the second computing devices from the current airflows measured through the second computing devices individually; and

third computer-readable code to choose one or more selected computing devices of the second computing devices responsive to calculating that the sum of the current airflows is greater than the maximum airflows associated with the cooling component for the rack, as the second computing devices that have current fan speeds less than maximum fan speeds at which the fans of the second computing devices are operable to instruct each selected computing device to decrease the fan speed thereof, so that the second computing devices do not together exhaust more air into the rack than the cooling component can exhaust out of the rack,

wherein each second computing device, as a given computing device, has a fan to exhaust heat generated within the given computing device into the rack in which the given computing device is installed,

wherein the cooling component for the rack is to exhaust the heat exhausted by the fans of the second computing devices into the rack from the rack to outside the rack, the maximum airflow associated with the cooling component being a maximum flow of air that the cooling component is able to remove from the rack,

wherein the maximum airflow associated with the cooling component is less than a sum of a maximum device airflow associated with each second computing device individually,

and wherein the selected computing devices do not immediately throttle one or more of processor instruction execution frequency, hard disk drive platter rotation rate, or memo access frequency, but are now configured to throttle the one or more of processor instruction execution frequency, hard disk drive platter rotation rate, or memory access frequency at a future point of time.