System and method for activity or event based dynamic energy conserving server reconfiguration

• US 20030200473A1
• Filed: 05/18/2001
• Published: 10/23/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 06/01/1990
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Huron IP LLC
• Original Assignee: Amphus, Inc.
• Inventors: Fung, Henry T.
• Granted Patent: US 7,237,129 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/320
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00315 Microtiter plates
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00317 Microwell devices, i.e. having large numbers of wells
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00605 the compounds being directly bound or immobilised to solid supports
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00659 Two-dimensional arrays
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00686 Automatic
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00691 using robots
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00707 separated from the reactor apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: C40B 60/14 for creating libraries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3203 Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3209 Monitoring remote activity, e.g. over telephone lines or network connections
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3215 Monitoring of peripheral devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3221 of disk drive devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/324 by lowering clock frequency
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3287 by switching off individual functional units in the computer system
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/50 in wire-line communication networks, e.g. low power modes or reduced link rate

Abstract

Network architecture, computer system and/or server, circuit, device, apparatus, method, and computer program and control mechanism for managing power consumption and workload in computer system and data and information servers. Further provides power and energy consumption and workload management and control systems and architectures for high-density and modular multi-server computer systems that maintain performance while conserving energy and method for power management and workload management. Dynamic server power management and optional dynamic workload management for multi-server environments is provided by aspects of the invention. Modular network devices and integrated server system, including modular servers, management units, switches and switching fabrics, modular power supplies and modular fans and a special backplane architecture are provided as well as dynamically reconfigurable multi-purpose modules and servers. Backplane architecture, structure, and method that has no active components and separate power supply lines and protection to provide high reliability in server environment.

Claims

1. An information processing system comprising:

a frame or enclosure for mounting a plurality of devices;

a backplane having a plurality of backplane electrical connectors disposed within said frame or enclosure; and

a plurality of devices, each including a device electrical connector, matingly coupled to said backplane electrical connectors, said plurality of devices including at least one network device for coupling said system with an external network.

2. A system as in claim 1, wherein said at least one network device comprises a device selected from the set of network devices consisting of a server device, a computer node device, a monitor node device, a management module, a server module, and combinations thereof.

3. A system as in claim 2, wherein said at least one network device includes a processor and a memory integral with or coupled to said processor.

4. A system as in claim 3, further comprising a network switch or network switching device.

5. A system as in claim 4, wherein said plurality of devices further comprises a device selected from the set of devices consisting of a power supply, a fan or fan module, and combinations thereof.

6. A system as in claim 1, wherein said at least one network device comprises at least one server computer having at least one processor and a power manager.

7. A system as in claim 6, wherein said power manager is integral with said server computer.

8. A system as in claim 6, wherein said power manager is separate from said server computer.

9. A system as in claim 6, wherein said or each server computer further comprises an activity monitor identifying a level of activity indicator for said at least one processor;

and said or each server computer being operable in;

(i) a first mode having a first maximum performance level and a first power consumption rate, and (ii) a third mode having a third maximum performance level lower than said first maximum performance level and a third power consumption rate lower than said first power consumption rate; and

said system further comprising;

a power manager;

(i) coupled to each of said computers and receiving said level of activity information from each of said plurality of computers;

(ii) analyzing said plurality of received level of activity information;

(iii) determining an operating mode for each of said computers selected from said first mode and third mode based on said analyzed activity information and predetermined policies; and

(iv) generating commands to each of said plurality of computers directing each of said plurality of computers to operate in said determined operating mode.

10. A system as in claim 9, wherein:

said or each server computer further being operable in;

(iii) a second mode having a second maximum performance level intermediate between said first maximum performance level and said third maximum performance level and a second power consumption rate intermediate between said first power consumption rate and said third power consumption rate; and

said power manager further determining an operating mode for each of said computers selected from said first mode, said second mode, and said third mode based on said analyzed activity information and said predetermined policies.

11. A system as in claim 1, wherein said system further comprises a power manager.

12. A system as in claim 10, wherein said system further comprises a switching module, and said power manager receives activity indicators for said switching module and controls an operating mode of said switching module in response thereto.

13. A system as in claim 10, wherein said computer comprises a server module that is power managed by adjusting processor performance to one or more of a predicted processor processing requirement and a measured processor processing requirement.

14. A system as in claim 13, wherein said predicted processor processing requirement is a Quality of Service (QoS) based requirement, and said measured processor processing requirement comprises a substantially real-time measured processor processing requirement.

15. A system as in claim 14, wherein said substantially real-time processor processing requirement comprises an idle thread execution detection and response thereto.

16. A system as in claim 10, wherein power (or energy) is conserved by controlling the computer based on a control procedure algorithm to enter a first level of power (energy) saving by adjusting the performance of the processor within the computer to substantially match the computer processor loading demand.

17. A system as in claim 10, wherein power (or energy) is conserved by controlling the plurality of computers in aggregate based on a control procedure algorithm and said policy to enter selected levels of power (energy) saving by adjusting the performance of the processors within the computers to one of the first mode, second mode, and third mode to substantially match the aggregate computer processor loading demands.

18. A system as in claim 10, wherein said power manager includes a control procedure algorithm implemented as software to implement a power on demand control procedure.

19. A system as in claim 10, wherein each computer is configurable as a particular type of network device.

20. A system as in claim 10, wherein said computer is configured as a network device selected from the set consisting of a web server, a streaming media server, a cache server, a file server, an application server, and a router.

21. A system as in claim 10, wherein at least selected ones of said computers are configurable as a combination type of network device, and wherein said network device configured in said computer node is a network device selected from the set consisting of a web server, a streaming media server, a cache server, a file server, an application server, a router, and combinations thereof.

22. A system as in claim 21, wherein said network device is reconfigurable at any time based on types of activities detected within the network to which the network device is or may be connected.

23. A system as in claim 10, wherein at least one of said computers comprises a network device and the activity monitor for said network device comprises a network activity monitor that detects the types of activities present on a network to which said activity monitor is coupled.

24. A system as in claim 23, wherein said types of activities present on a network to which said activity monitor is coupled that are monitored by said activity monitor include volume of web pages served, volume of streaming media served, volume of files served, volume of applications served, volume of cached data served, amount of network traffic routed, and combinations thereof.

25. A system as in claim 22, wherein said reconfiguration of network device is initiated by any network device including the same network as is being reconfigured.

26. A system in claim 4 wherein a selected one of said plurality of computers designated as a master providing said power manager.

27. A system as in claim 10, wherein a selected one of said plurality of computers is designated as a master providing said power manager, and reconfiguration of a network device from one form of network device to another form of network device is initiated by any computer that has been designated as a master computer.

28. A system as in claim 27, wherein any computer may be designated as the master node.

29. A system as in claim 28, wherein a particular computer is designated as a master on the basis of its position within a chassis.

30. A system as in claim 28, wherein a particular computer node is designated as a master node on the basis of the order of power-up or boot completion.

31. A system as in claim 28, wherein reconfiguration of said computer comprises altering the software and/or firmware instructing said computer.

32. A system as in claim 28, wherein reconfiguration of said computer comprises altering the data organization of a data storage device integral with or coupled to said computer.

33. A system as in claim 28, wherein said data storage device comprises a hard disc drive based RAID storage array and altering said data organization comprises altering rad configuration of said data to provide better performance for the type of data being served.

34. A system as in claim 22, wherein said reconfiguration of a computer is initiated by a management module network device.

35. A system as in claim 10, wherein a plurality of computers of the same type are grouped together and treated as a single network device.

36. A system as in claim 35, wherein said group of network devices treated as a single network device is managed and controlled as a single network device.

37. A system as in claim 35, wherein said group of network devices treated as a single network device is power managed as a single network device.

38. A system as in claim 35, wherein said group of network devices treated as a single network device is monitored as a single network device.

39. A system as in claim 35, wherein said plurality of grouped network devices are electrically coupled via a backplane bus and the logical grouping of the plurality of network devices into a single logical network device is performed under control of software.

40. A system as in claim 39, wherein said software executes within a processor and memory associated within each network device.

41. A system as in claim 35, wherein said plurality of network devices each comprise a server group.

42. A system as in claim 35, wherein said plurality of network devices each comprise a computer server module.

43. A system as in claim 42, wherein each computer server module is configured as a computer server module selected from the group consisting of a web server, a streaming media server, a cache server, a file server, an application server, a router, and combinations thereof.

44. A system as in claim 39, wherein the activity associated with each computer within a grouped logical network device may be monitored individually.

45. A system as in claim 39, wherein the network activity associated with all or any subset of physical network device within a grouped logical network device may be monitored as a composite or in aggregate.

46. A system as in claim 35, wherein grouping is accomplished by aggregating all of the activity in each computer and directing each computer in said logical group to operate at the same operating mode.

47. A system as in claim 10, wherein over a period of time said system will have sufficient over capacity that some of said computers will be directed to operate in said third mode, said policy taking into account the amount each of said computers have historically spent operating in at least one of said first, second, or third mode and selecting a computer to operate in said third mode based on historical data.

48. A system as in claim 47, wherein said computer selected to operate in said third mode is a computer that has the smallest cumulative duration operating in said third mode amongst the plurality of computers.

49. A system as in claim 47, wherein said computer selected to operate in said third mode is randomly selected from amongst the plurality of computers.

50. A system as in claim 47, wherein said computer selected to operate in said third mode is rotated sequentially amongst the plurality of computers.

51. A system as in claim 10, wherein said activity monitor comprises an activity monitor that monitors an activity selected from the set of activities consisting of:

a program application layer activity, a network layer activity, a physical layer activity, and combinations thereof.

52. A system as in claim 51, wherein at the physical level the number of processor idle threads executed within a predetermined period of time are measured to determine processor loading and the processor performance is adjusted to by altering the operating mode to substantially match the level of processor loading.

53. A system as in claim 52, wherein the substantial matching of processor performance to processor loading is performed with a predetermined amount of additional processor performance beyond that needed to match the processor loading.

54. A system as in claim 53, wherein said predetermined amount of additional processor performance is between about one-percent and about five-percent additional performance.

55. The computer system in claim 10, wherein:

said first mode operation is characterized by operating said processor at a first processor clock frequency and a first processor core voltage, said second mode operation is characterized by operating said processor at a second processor clock frequency and a second processor core voltage, and said third mode operation is characterized by operating said processor at a third processor clock frequency and a third processor core voltage;

said second mode of operation being further characterized in that said second processor clock frequency and said second processor core voltage in combination consuming less power than said first processor clock frequency and said first processor core voltage in combination, and said third processor clock frequency and said third processor core voltage in combination consuming less power than said second processor clock frequency and said second processor core voltage in combination.

56. A system as in claim 55, wherein performance of a group of said computers configured as physical network devices forming a single logical device are power managed by reducing the performance and power consumption of each constituent physical device in predetermined equal increments or predetermined unequal increments.

57. A system as in claim 56, wherein said unequal increments include placing one or more of said plurality of physical devices in said third mode operating mode.

58. A system as in claim 56, wherein said unequal increments include placing one or more of said plurality of physical devices in said second mode operating mode.

59. A system as in claim 56, wherein said unequal increments include placing one or more of said plurality of physical devices in a powered-off fourth mode.

60. A system as in claim 56, wherein a composite performance of a logical network device is achieved by placing some physical network devices in said second mode and by placing others in a different mode.

61. The computer system in claim 8, wherein said activity monitor comprises a network layer activity monitoring TCP/IP protocol data packets;

and processor performance is incrementally lowered by said power manager using said mode control until data packets start dropping indicating that the processor performance is at the limit of adequacy and then increasing the processor performance by a specified increment to act as a safety margin to provide reliable communication of the packets.

62. A system as in claim 61, wherein the specified increment is a one-percent to five percent increment.

63. A system as in claim 61, wherein the specified increment is a 0.1 percent to 10 percent increment.

64. The computer system in claim 9, wherein said activity monitor comprises an activity monitor that monitors an activity selected from the set of activities consisting of:

a program application layer activity, a network layer activity, a physical layer activity, and combinations thereof.

65. The computer system in claim 64, wherein said application layer activity monitor comprises monitoring use of a port address within said computers, said monitoring including counting or measuring a number of times a specific port address is being requested within a predetermined period of time, and in response to that counting or measurement, placing a sufficient amount of computer performance to meet the performance requirement for each application requesting the port address.

66. A system as in claim 65, wherein said sufficient amount of network performance is provided by operating selected computer in a first predetermined performance having a predetermined power consumption and a second group of other selected physical network devices at a reduced second performance level having a power consumption lower than that of said first selected group.

67. A system as in claim 66, wherein said first predetermined performance is a maximum performance and said second predetermined performance is a second level power saving mode.

68. A system as in claim 66, wherein said first predetermined performance is a maximum performance and said second predetermined performance is a third level power saving mode.

69. A system as in claim 65, wherein said measurement is determined via a SNMP agent.

70. A system as in claim 9, wherein said power manager applies different policies for different application types including using different rules to determine and predict system performance requirements.

71. A system as in claim 70, wherein said different application types comprise different server types.

72. A system as in claim 70, wherein said different rules comprise different measurement procedures.

73. A system as in claim 70, wherein said system performance requirements comprise processor performance requirements.

74. A system as in claim 70, wherein said system performance requirements comprise server loading performance requirements.

75. A system as in claim 70, wherein said application type comprises a network application.

76. A system as in claim 75, wherein said network application comprises a network file server (NFS) application.

77. The system in claim 76, wherein said computer comprises a network server, and a processor within said computer operates at a processor clock frequency just sufficient to maintain maximum rated communication over a predetermined network connection.

78. The system in claim 77, wherein said a predetermined network connection comprises a 100 Mbps ethernet connection.

79. A system as in claim 77, wherein said processor clock frequency is less than about 300 MHz.

80. A system as in claim 75, wherein said processor clock frequency is less than about 300 MHz.

81. The computer system in claim 10, wherein said activity indicator comprises a network quality of service indicator.

82. A system as in claim 10, wherein power is conserved by controlling each computer node to enter one of said second mode or said third mode using one or more of a quality of service based predictive processor performance reduction and a activity based measured performance requirement.

83. A system as in claim 82, wherein said activity based measured performance comprises an idle thread execution based activity measure.

84. A system as in claim 81, wherein a plurality of said computers are organized as a single logical network device, and network device loading and QoS are measured for logical network device.

85. A system as in claim 81, wherein within said single logical network device, at least some computers making up the logical network device enter the third mode while other of said physical network devices operate in one or more of said first and second modes.

86. A system as in claim 81, wherein said computers can enter a third mode directly or indirectly from either said first mode or the second mode.

87. A system as in claim 10, wherein when there is a requirement that one computer be placed in a lower power consumption mode, the computer selected for such lower power consumption is selected according to predetermined rules such that different computers are placed in lower power consumption mode each time such selection is required.

88. A system as in claim 87, wherein said predetermined rules provide for random selection of one of the computers.

89. A system as in claim 87, wherein said predetermined rules provide for cycling through the computers according to some predetermined ordering.

90. A system as in claim 89, wherein said predetermined rules provide for cycling through the computers according to some predetermined ordering in which computers having the lowest time in service are preferentially selected for continued operation and network devices having the longest time in service are selected for reduced power operation.

91. A system as in claim 90, wherein said reduced power operation includes being powered off.

92. A system as in claim 90, wherein said reduced power operation includes being placed in a suspend mode.

93. A system as in claim 10, wherein a computer placed in mode 3 is in a suspend state and may be woken up and placed in the first mode or the second mode by any one of a plurality of events including by a wake on LAN signal event.

94. A system as in claim 10, wherein the transition from one power consumption mode to another power consumption mode is based on a procedure implemented in software.

95. A system as in claim 10, wherein the transition from one power consumption mode to another power consumption mode is based on a procedure implemented in hardware and software.

96. A system as in claim 10, wherein when there is need to operate fewer than all the computer, the particular computer or logical group of computers that is (are) turned off or placed in a reduced power consumption mode is cycled so that over time all of the network devices experience similar operating time histories.

97. A system as in claim 96, wherein the computers include a non-volatile memory for storing operational history.

98. A system as in claim 97, wherein said operational history includes a total operating time indicator.

99. A system as in claim 97, wherein said operational history includes a time in service indicator.

100. A system as in claim 97, wherein said operational history includes indicators for operational time at each operational mode.

101. A system as in claim 10, wherein at least some of said computers include a mass storage device including a rotatable storage device.

102. A system as in claim 101, wherein said rotatable mass storage device comprises a rotatable magnetic hard disk drive.

103. A system as in claim 101, wherein said rotatable mass storage device comprises a rotatable optical disk drive.

104. A system as in claim 101, wherein said rotatable mass storage device comprises a rotatable magneto-optical disk drive.

105. A system as in claim 101, wherein said rotatable mass storage device is power managed by controlling the rotation of a motor rotating said rotatable device, wherein said disc drive is not rotated when a computer associated with said drive is in a mode 3 operating condition.

106. A system as in claim 10, wherein said computers are configured as network server devices and a network load versus allocated network device performance profile is provided for each different type of network server device, and the performance level set for operation of said network device is established by reference to the profile.

107. A system as in claim 106, wherein the profile is implemented as an analytical expression executed in software or firmware.

108. A system as in claim 106, wherein the profile is implemented as a piecewise linear expression executed in software or firmware.

109. A system as in claim 106, wherein the profile is implemented as a look-up-table stored in a memory.

110. A system as in claim 10, wherein at least one of said computers comprises a network server device and said activity monitoring for said network server device comprises a monitoring or either said network device load or the network device quality of service (QoS);

and wherein said monitoring is performed by said activity monitor or by a separate management computer, or both.

111. A system as in claim 10, wherein said system includes at least one temperature sensor within an enclosure holding said computers for monitoring and reporting the temperature proximate the sensor to a computers configured to monitor said temperature.

112. A system as in claim 10, wherein said system includes a plurality of temperature sensors within said enclosure reporting to one or more network devices.

113. A system as in claim 112, wherein said plurality of temperature sensors are spatially distributed to provide temperature monitoring of different network devices within said enclosure.

114. A system as in claim 112, wherein said plurality of temperature sensors are spatially distributed to provide temperature monitoring of different network devices and power supplies within said enclosure.

115. A system as in claim 111, wherein when the temperature sensed by a temperature sensor is within a predetermined magnitude relationship of a first predetermined value at least one computer is transitioned to a lower power consumption state.

116. A system as in claim 115, wherein when the temperature sensed by a temperature sensor is within a predetermined magnitude relationship of a second predetermined value at least one computer is transitioned to a powered off state.

117. A system as in claim 111, wherein the operational mode of at least one computer is reduced to a lower power consuming and heat dissipating state in response to a temperature sensor reporting a temperature greater than or equal to a predetermined value.

118. A system as in claim 111, wherein after said power consumption operating mode has been lowered permitting said computer to be operated at a higher power consuming state when the temperature sensed is below a predetermined temperature value, said lower temperature value being selected to provide hysteresis and prevent oscillation between higher power state and lower powered state.

119. A system as in claim 115, wherein the lower power consumption state is achieved by lowering the clock frequency of the processor, the clock frequency of a bus coupling a processor to other components, or the operating voltage of the processor or other components.

120. A system as in claim 115, wherein the particular network device that is transitioned to a lower power consumption state is selected based on predetermined rules.

121. A system as in claim 120, wherein said predetermined rules include a quality of service indicator.

122. A system as in claim 121, wherein additional computer devices are sent to lower energy consuming modes if the temperature remains above a predetermined temperature value.

123. A system as in claim 10, wherein power consumption within said system is reduced by adjusting the number and motor speed of cooling fans responsible for cooling said computer.

124. A system as in claim 10, wherein a plurality of cooling fans are provided and operate under control of said power manager that controls each fan to provide cooling at the rate and location desired to maintain said computers within a predetermined temperature range.

125. A system as in claim 10, wherein said plurality of computers are disposed within a common enclosure and said system further comprising a plurality of temperature sensors and a plurality of cooling devices are also disposed within said enclosure, said plurality of temperature sensors communicating a temperature signal to a temperature control means and said control means adjusting the on/off status and operational parameters of the cooling units to extract heat according to predetermined rules.

126. A system as in claim 125, wherein said power manager comprises said temperature control means.

127. A system as in claim 125, wherein one of said computers within said enclosure comprises said temperature control means.

128. A system as in claim 9, wherein said system further includes a plurality of power supplies and said power supplies are controlled to maintain a required power output level and operate said power supplies at a preferred efficiency.

129. A system as in claim 128, wherein only selected ones of said plurality of power supplies are operated.

130. A system as in claim 128, wherein multiple ones of said power supplies are operated but each is operated at less than rated power output capacity.

131. A system as in claim 10, wherein the temperature of said system is moderated by motor driven cooling fans and wherein a rotational speed of said motor drive cooling is adjusted to maintain a predetermined temperature range proximate a temperature sensor.

132. A system as in claim 10, wherein the rotational speed of a motor drive cooling is adjusted to maintain a predetermined temperature range within an enclosure.

133. A power-conservative multi-node network device, comprising:

an enclosure having a power supply and a back-plane bus;

a plurality of hot-pluggable node devices in the form of printed circuit (PC) cards adapted for connection with said back-plane buss; and

each said node device being reconfigurable in substantially real-time to adapt to changing conditions on the network.

134. The network device in claim 133, wherein said plurality of hot-pluggable node devices comprise up to sixteen node devices.

135. The network device in claim 133, wherein each of said node devices includes power saving control features.

136. A computer program product for use in conjunction with a computer system having a plurality of server computers, each server computer including at least one processor, and each computer being operable in a first mode having a first maximum performance level and a first power consumption rate, and a third mode having a third maximum performance level lower than said first maximum performance level and a third power consumption rate lower than said first power consumption rate, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium and a computer program mechanism embedded therein, the computer program mechanism, comprising:

a program module that directs at least one computer, to function in a specified manner, the program module including instructions for;

monitoring activity within said computers and identifying a level of activity for said at least one processor within said computers;

analyzing said plurality of level of activity information;

determining an operating mode for each of said computers selected from said first mode and third mode based on said analyzed activity information; and

generating commands to each of said plurality of computers directing each of said plurality of computers to operate in said determined operating mode.

137. The computer program product of claim 136, wherein each of said computers further being operable in a second mode having a second maximum performance level intermediate between said first maximum performance level and said third maximum performance level and a second power consumption rate intermediate between said first power consumption rate and said third power consumption rate;

and said determining an operating mode further comprising determining an operating mode for each of said computers selected from said first mode, said second mode, and said third mode based on said analyzed activity information.

138. The computer program product of claim 137, wherein a transition from said first mode to said second mode is controlled locally within each said computer;

and a transition from either said first mode or said second mode to said third mode are controlled globally by said power manager.

139. The computer program product of claim 138, wherein a transition from said second mode to said first mode is controlled locally within each said computer;

and a transition from said third mode to either said first mode or said second mode is controlled globally by said power manager.