Optimizing computing resources

• US 9,477,287 B1
• Filed: 06/28/2012
• Issued: 10/25/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2012
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Schow, Kenneth M., Ross, Peter G.
• Primary Examiner(s): TRAN, VINCENT HUY
• Application Number:
  US13/536,761
• Time in Patent Office: 1,580 Days
• Field of Search: 713/100, 713/1, 713/2
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/206 comprising thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/32 Means for saving power
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3206 Monitoring of events, devices or parameters that trigger a change in power modality
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

A method of optimizing a configuration of computing resources includes coupling computing devices to a test system. With the test system, a test is performed on one or more of the computing devices. The test includes operating the computing devices in two or more configurations. In each configuration, power consumption characteristics or thermal characteristics of the computing devices associated with the configurations are measured. Based on the measurements of power consumption characteristics, thermal characteristics, or both, a desired configuration for at least one computing device to be operated is determined.

Claims

1. A method of optimizing a configuration of computing resources in a data center, comprising:

coupling one or more computing devices to a test fixture;

performing, in an enclosure of the test fixture, a test on at least one of the computing devices, wherein performing the test comprises;

controlling environmental conditions within the enclosure according to a particular set of environmental test conditions;

operating the at least one computing device in a first configuration under the particular set of environmental test conditions;

changing out one or more physical components of the at least one computing device such that a configuration of the at least one computing device is changed from the first configuration to one or more other configurations;

operating the at least one computing device in the one or more other configurations under the particular set of environment test conditions;

controlling environmental conditions within the enclosure according to another set of environmental test conditions;

operating the at least one computing device in the first configuration and the one or more other configurations under the other set of environmental test conditions; and

measuring power consumption characteristics or thermal characteristics of the at least one computing device associated with each of at least two of the configurations under the particular set of environmental test conditions and with each of at least two of the configurations at the other set of environmental test conditions;

performing at least one optimization calculation based, at least in part, on the measurements; and

determining, by a computer system, based at least in part on the optimization calculation, a desired configuration for a set of computing devices to be operated in the data center,

wherein the optimization calculation is based, at least in part, on measurements of the at least one computing device in the at least two configurations under the particular set of environmental test conditions and is based, at least in part, on measurements of the at least one computing device in the at least two configurations under the other set of environmental test conditions.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the desired configuration for the set of computing devices to be operated in the data center comprises modeling one or more characteristics of the at least one of the tested computing devices based at least in part on the measurements.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein, for at least one of the computing devices, measuring the power consumption characteristics or thermal characteristics of the computing devices comprises measuring a power draw for at least one configuration of the computing device.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein determining the desired configuration for the set of computing devices to be operated in the data center comprises:

modeling, based at least in part on the measurements, a relationship between temperature and power draw, and

wherein the optimization is performed based in part on the relationship between power draw and temperature.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the desired configuration for the set of computing devices to be operated in the data center comprises:

modeling, based at least in part on the measurements, a relationship between reliability and cost, and

wherein the optimization is performed based in part on the relationship between reliability and cost.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of computing devices comprises servers to be operated in a rack.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the desired configuration for the set of computing devices to be operated in the data center comprises determining a rack density for one or more racks in the data center.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein, for at least one of the computing devices, operating the computing device in the first configuration and the one or more other configurations further comprises changing a software configuration in the computing device.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the optimization computation is based at least in part on a service that is to be provided with the set of computing devices.

10. A method of optimizing a configuration of computing resources, comprising:

coupling one or more computing devices to a test system;

performing, within an enclosure of the test system, a test on at least one of the computing devices, wherein performing the test comprises;

controlling environmental conditions within the enclosure according to a particular set of environmental test conditions;

operating the at least one computing device in a first configuration under the particular set of environmental test conditions;

changing out one or more physical components of the at least one computing device such that a configuration of the at least one computing device is changed from the first configuration to one or more other configurations;

operating the at least one computing device in the one or more other configurations under the particular set of environment test conditions;

controlling environmental conditions within the enclosure according to an other set of environmental test conditions;

operating the at least one computing device in the first configuration and the one or more other configurations under the other set of environmental test conditions; and

measuring power consumption characteristics or thermal characteristics of the at least one computing device associated with each of at least two of the configurations under the particular set of environmental test conditions and with each of at least two of the configurations under the other set of environmental test conditions;

determining, by a computer system, based, at least in part, on the measurements of power consumption characteristics or thermal characteristics of the at least one computing device a desired configuration for the at least one computing device to be operated,

wherein the measurements on which said determining is based comprise measurements in the at least two configurations under the particular set of environmental conditions and measurements in the at least two configurations under the other set of environmental conditions.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising operating the at least one computing device in the desired configuration to perform one or more services.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein determining the desired configuration of the at least one computing device comprises performing at least one optimization calculation based at least in part on the measurements.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein determining the desired configuration for the at least one computing device to be operated comprises modeling one or more characteristics of the at least one computing device based at least in part on the measurements.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein, for the at least one computing device, measuring the power consumption characteristics or thermal characteristics of the at least one computing device comprises measuring a power draw for at least one configuration of the at least one computing device.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein determining the desired configuration for the at least one computing device to be operated comprises:

modeling, based at least in part on the measurements, a relationship between temperature and power draw; and

performing an optimization based on the relationship between power draw and temperature.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein performing the optimization based on the relationship between power draw and temperature comprises modeling a trade-off between power draw and temperature.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein determining the desired configuration comprises applying, by the computer system, one or more rules.

18. The method of claim 10, wherein, for at least one of the tested computing devices, measuring the power consumption characteristics or thermal characteristics of the computing devices comprises measuring a temperature for at least one configuration of the computing device.

19. The method of claim 10, wherein, controlling the environmental conditions within the enclosure includes controlling a temperature within the enclosure.

20. The method of claim 10, wherein, for the at least one computing device, the test is performed based at least in part on a service that is to be provided with the at least one computing device.

21. The method of claim 10, wherein, for the at least one computing device, operating the at least one computing device in two or more configurations comprises changing a software configuration or a firmware configuration of the computing device.

22. The method of claim 10, wherein, for the at least one computing device, operating the at least one computing device in two or more configurations comprises changing a software configuration in the computing device.

23. The method of claim 10, wherein the at least one computing device comprises a set of computing devices to be operated in a rack.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein determining the desired configuration for the at least one computing device comprising the set of computing devices to be operated in the rack comprises determining a rack density for one or more racks in a data center.

25. The method of claim 10, wherein the at least one computing device comprises a set of computing devices to be operated in a data center.

26. A system, comprising:

a test fixture comprising an enclosure; and

a test control unit comprising;

a processor;

a memory coupled to the processor and configured to store program instructions executable by the processor to implement;

performing a test on at least one computing device, wherein performing the test comprises;

controlling environmental conditions within the enclosure according to a particular set of environmental test conditions;

operating the at least one computing device in a first configuration under the particular set of environmental test conditions;

operating the at least one computing device in one or more other configurations under the particular set of environmental conditions, wherein in the one or more other configurations one or more physical components of the at least one computing device are changed out;

controlling environmental conditions within the enclosure according to an other set of environmental test conditions;

operating the at least one computing device in the first configuration and the one or more other configurations under the other set of environmental test conditions; and

measuring power consumption characteristics or thermal characteristics of the at least one computing device associated with each of at least two of the configurations under the particular set of environmental test conditions and with each of at least two of the configurations under the other set of environmental test conditions; and

determining, based, at least in part, on the measurements of power consumption characteristics or thermal characteristics of the at least one computing device a desired configuration for operation of the at least one computing device,

wherein the measurements on which said determining is based comprise measurements in the at least two configurations under the particular set of environmental test conditions and measurements in the at least two configurations under the other set of environmental test conditions.

27. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, storing program instructions computer-executable on one or more computers to implement:

performing a test on at least one computing device, wherein performing the test comprises;

operating the at least one computing device in a first configuration under a particular set of environmental conditions;

operating the at least one computing device in one or more other configurations under the particular set of environmental conditions, wherein in the one or more other configurations one or more physical components of the at least one computing device are changed out;

operating the at least one computing device in the first configuration and the one or more other configurations under an other set of environmental conditions; and

measuring power consumption characteristics or thermal characteristics of the at least one computing device associated with each of at least two of the configurations under the particular set of environmental conditions and with each of at least two of the configurations under the other set of environmental conditions; and

determining, based, at least in part, on the measurements of power consumption characteristics or thermal characteristics of the at least one computing device, a desired configuration for operation of the at least one computing device,

wherein the measurements on which said determining is based comprise measurements in the at least two configurations under the particular set of environmental conditions and measurements in the at least two configurations under the other set of environmental conditions.

28. A system, comprising:

a test fixture comprising;

one or more enclosures; and

one or more mounts configured to hold one or more computing devices in at least one of the enclosures,

wherein the test fixture is configured to provide controlled environmental conditions within the test fixture;

a test control unit comprising;

a processor;

a memory coupled to the processor and configured to store program instructions executable by the processor to implement;

performing, on at least one computing device of the one or more computing devices in the test fixture, a test, wherein performing the test comprises;

operating the at least one computing device in two or more configurations under a particular set of environmental conditions, wherein at least one physical component of the at least one computing device is changed out to change configurations of the at least one computing device;

operating the at least one computing device in the two or more configurations under an other set of environmental conditions, wherein at least one physical component of the at least one computing device is changed out to change configurations of the at least one computing device; and

measuring power consumption characteristics or thermal characteristics of the at least one computing device associated with each of at least two of the two or more configurations under the particular set of environmental conditions and with each of at least two of the two or more configurations under the other set of environmental conditions; and

determining, based, at least in part, on the measurements of power consumption characteristics or thermal characteristics of the at least one computing device a desired configuration for the at least one computing device to be operated,

wherein the measurements on which said determining is based comprise measurements in the two or more configurations under the particular set of environmental conditions and measurements in the two or more configurations under the other set of environmental conditions; and

one or more cables configured to couple the at least one computing device in the test fixture to the test control unit.

29. The system of claim 28, further comprising one or more power consumption sensors coupled to the test control unit, wherein at least one of the power consumption sensors is configured to sense power consumption of the at least one computing device.

30. The system of claim 28, further comprising a power control system configured to control power to the at least one computing device in at least one of the one more enclosures.

31. The system of claim 28, further comprising one or more temperature sensors coupled to the test control unit, wherein at least one of the temperature sensors is configured to sense a temperature in at least one location in the at least one computing device.

32. The system of claim 28, further comprising an environmental control system configured to control one or more environmental characteristics of the at least one computing device in at least one of the one or more enclosures.

33. The system of claim 32, wherein the environmental control system is configured to supply air below ambient temperature.

34. The system of claim 28, further comprising one or more adjustable vents configured to control venting of heated air from at least one of the enclosures.

35. The system of claim 34, wherein the environmental control system is configured to control a rate of air flow in at least one of the enclosures based on one or more characteristics of air in the enclosure.

36. The system of claim 34, wherein at least one of the one or more adjustable vents is coupled to a control unit, wherein the control unit is configured to control flow through the at least one adjustable vent.

37. The system of claim 28, further comprising a user display, wherein the system is configured to present graphical information for use in optimizing computing resources based on measurements taken in the test fixture.

38. The system of claim 28, wherein the test fixture is configured to hold two or more computing devices, wherein the test control unit is configured to perform tests on at least two of the two or more computing devices.

39. The system of claim 28, wherein the test fixture is configured to hold two or more computing devices, wherein at least one of the computing devices is in a separate chamber from at least one other computing device.