Dynamic server-level thermal control using inlet and exhaust temperatures

• US 10,007,309 B1
• Filed: 05/01/2014
• Issued: 06/26/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/20/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Imwalle, Gregory, Stiver, David W., Schran, Andrew J., Newcomb, Thomas Chris
• Primary Examiner(s): Ali, Mohammad
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lindsay, Bernard G
• Application Number:
  US14/267,393
• Time in Patent Office: 1,517 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/206 comprising thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/20836 Thermal management, e.g. server temperature control

Abstract

An apparatus for monitoring and maintaining thermal exhaust temperatures for monitored servers may include a processor in communication with an exhaust temperature control system. The processor may implement various control loops to monitor inlet and exhaust temperatures for one or more servers, and the processor may monitor temperatures of various hardware components within those one or more servers. When the processor determines that a hardware component for a given server is overheating, the processor may take steps to decrease the temperature of the overheating hardware component for the given server. To determine whether a hardware component is overheating, the processor may leverage the hardware component'"'"'s operating temperature margin.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

an exhaust temperature control system;

a processor in communication with the exhaust temperature control system; and

memory storing instructions, the instructions being executable by the processor, wherein the instructions comprise;

monitoring an inlet temperature value associated with a plurality of components;

determining a temperature difference value based on the inlet temperature value and a stored association between the inlet temperature value and a stored temperature difference value, the stored association and the stored temperature difference value being stored in the memory prior to said monitoring;

determining an exhaust temperature value based on the inlet temperature value and the temperature difference value;

transmitting the exhaust temperature value to the exhaust temperature control system;

determining a temperature of each component of the plurality of components;

determining a plurality of component temperature margin values by determining, for each component of the plurality of components, a component temperature margin value based on the difference between a temperature of the component and a threshold operating temperature associated with the component;

establishing the temperature difference value based on the lowest component temperature margin value of the plurality of component temperature margin values; and

transmitting the established temperature difference value to the exhaust temperature control system.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the inlet temperature value comprises an inlet temperature value derived from an inlet temperature source.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein determining the temperature difference value comprises querying a temperature difference database with the inlet temperature value.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the instructions further comprise increasing the temperature difference value by a predetermined amount based on a comparison of an average value of the determined component temperature margin values with a second component margin threshold value.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

associate each component temperature margin value with at least one of a plurality of components;

associate each component with at least one of a plurality of zones, each zone being associated with a cooling device; and

adjust operation of a cooling device associated with a given zone when the component temperature margin value associated with a component that is associated with the given zone falls below a component margin threshold value.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the processor is further configured to update a zone database when there is a change to a given zone, wherein the change is selected from a group of changes consisting of adding, removing, and replacing a component.

7. An apparatus for adjusting an operation of a cooling device for a server, the apparatus comprising:

a memory that stores a temperature difference database that stores a plurality of inlet temperature values for the server and a corresponding temperature difference value for each stored inlet temperature value; and

a processor in communication with the memory, the processor being configured to;

determine an inlet temperature value based on an inlet temperature of the server;

retrieve a temperature difference value from the temperature difference database based on a query comprising the inlet temperature value;

determine an expected exhaust temperature value based on the temperature difference value and the inlet temperature value;

determine a temperature of each component of a plurality of components provided on the server;

determine a plurality of component temperature margin values by determining, for each component of the plurality of components, a component temperature margin value based on a difference between a temperature of the component and a threshold operating temperature associated with the component;

adjust the expected temperature difference value based on the lowest component temperature margin value of the plurality of component temperature margin values;

measure an exhaust temperature value; and

adjust an operation of at least one cooling device based on a comparison of the measured exhaust temperature value and the adjusted expected exhaust temperature value.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the inlet temperature value is determined based on a temperature probe that monitors an air inlet.

9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the inlet temperature value is determined based on an inlet temperature database, and the inlet temperature value is selected based on a geographic location.

10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the processor is further configured to determine the temperature difference value through interpolation when the temperature difference database does not include the inlet temperature value.

11. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the processor is further configured to:

monitor a characteristic selected from a group of characteristics consisting of power consumption and workload; and

adjust operation of the at least one cooling device based at least in part on the monitored characteristic.

12. A method for adjusting an operation of a cooling device for a server comprising:

storing, in a memory, a temperature difference database that stores a plurality of inlet temperature values for the server and a corresponding temperature difference value for each stored inlet temperature value;

determining, with a processor in communication with the memory, an inlet temperature value based on an inlet temperature of the server;

retrieving a temperature difference value from the temperature difference database based on a query comprising the inlet temperature value;

determining an expected exhaust temperature value based on the temperature difference value and the inlet temperature value;

determining a temperature of each component of a plurality of components provided on the server;

determining a plurality of component temperature margin values by determining, for each component of the plurality of components, a component temperature margin value based on a difference between a temperature of the component and a threshold operating temperature associated with the component;

adjusting the expected temperature difference value based on the lowest component temperature margin value of the plurality of component temperature margin values;

periodically measuring an exhaust temperature value and, in response to each one of a plurality of periodic measurements, increasing the expected exhaust temperature value by a predetermined amount when the difference between the expected exhaust temperature value and the measured exhaust temperature value exceeds a threshold; and

adjusting operation of at least one cooling device to provide less cooling when the adjusted expected exhaust temperature value exceeds the measured exhaust temperature value.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the inlet temperature value is determined based on a temperature probe that monitors an air inlet.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the inlet temperature value is determined based on an inlet temperature database, and the inlet temperature value is selected based on a geographic location.

15. The method of claim 12, further comprising determining the temperature difference value based on the inlet temperature value.

16. The method of claim 12 wherein the threshold is determined by operating one of the plurality of components at increasing temperatures until the one of the plurality of components exhibits a decrease in performance or an instability.

17. An apparatus for maintaining a thermal exhaust temperature, the apparatus comprising:

a memory; and

a processor in communication with the memory, the processor being configured to;

determine whether a component includes a battery;

determine whether the component is operating in a first environment or second environment, respectively;

determine an expected inlet temperature value based on whether the component includes a battery and a predetermined value, where the expected inlet temperature value is a first temperature value when the component is determined to include a battery and to be operating in the first environment, the expected inlet temperature value is a second temperature value when the component is determined to not include a battery and to be operating in the second environment, and the first temperature value is different from the second temperature value;

determine a temperature difference value;

determine an expected exhaust temperature value based on the temperature difference value and the expected inlet temperature value;

measure an exhaust temperature value; and

adjust an operation of at least one cooling device based on a comparison of the measured exhaust temperature value and the expected exhaust temperature value.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein determining an expected inlet temperature comprises:

when a temperature probe is reporting an inlet temperature value associated with the component, determining the expected inlet temperature value based on the inlet temperature value reported by the temperature probe; and

when a temperature probe is not reporting an inlet temperature value associated with the component, determining the expected inlet temperature value based on the predetermined value.

19. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the first temperature value is higher than the second temperature value.

20. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein determining a temperature difference value comprises determining the temperature difference value from a temperature difference database based on the inlet temperature value.

21. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein determining whether the component is operating in a first environment or a second environment comprises the determination of whether the component includes a battery.