System and method to control data center air handling systems

• US 8,090,476 B2
• Filed: 07/11/2008
• Issued: 01/03/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/11/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Dawson, Christopher J., Diluoffo, Vincenzo V., Hamilton, Rick A. II, Kendzierski, Michael D.
• Primary Examiner(s): ROBERTSON, DAVID
• Application Number:
  US12/171,643
• Publication Number:
  US 20100010678A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,271 Days
• Field of Search: 700/276, 700/291, 700/295, 700/296, 700/297, 700/299, 700/300, 702 60- 63, 165/254, 165/266, 165/267
• US Class Current: 700/276
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/30 for purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/47 Responding to energy costs
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/58 using Internet communication
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/64 using pre-stored data
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2140/60 Energy consumption
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 23/1917 using digital means
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/20836 Thermal management, e.g. server temperature control

Abstract

A method implemented in a computer infrastructure having computer executable code tangibly embodied on a computer readable medium being operable to determine at least one data center condition and determine or estimate a current energy cost. Additionally, the method includes dynamically control a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system of the data center based on the determined at least one data center condition and the determined or estimated current energy cost.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining whether at least one data center condition that will cause a rise in a current temperature or a current mean temperature of at least one data center is anticipated to occur at a time frame subsequent to a current time;

comparing the determined anticipated at least one data center condition to historical data to obtain similar past data center condition records;

determining whether based on the similar past data center condition records that without cooling the at least one data center the anticipated at least one data center condition will cause the current temperature or the current mean temperature of the at least one data center to rise above a predetermined temperature;

determining or estimating whether a current energy usage is optimal over an energy usage for the subsequent time frame when the anticipated at least one data center condition will cause the current temperature or the current mean temperature of the at least one data center to rise above the predetermined temperature;

dynamically controlling a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system of the at least one data center in order to pre-cool the at least one data center if the current energy usage is optimal in anticipation of the at least one data center condition that will cause the current temperature or the current mean temperature to rise above the predetermined temperature; and

updating the determined at least one data center condition, the determined or estimated current energy usage, and the dynamic control of the HVAC system,

wherein the determining the at least one data center condition and the updating comprises;

receiving data center environmental data from at least one environmental sensor,

receiving data center current workload information, and

receiving data center scheduled jobs information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one data center condition comprises at least one of:

an environmental condition;

a workload condition; and

a job schedule condition.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the environmental condition comprises at least one of:

outdoor temperature;

data center temperature;

time of day;

mean temperature within a data center region;

humidity;

moisture;

airflow; and

carbon emissions.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the workload condition comprises at least one of:

current workload levels;

power usage;

application priority;

job scheduling; and

application type.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the job schedule condition comprises at least one of:

a future workload level;

application priority;

job scheduling; and

application type.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the updating is performed based on at least one of:

an expiration of a predetermined time period;

a manual direction; and

an occurrence of a triggering event.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein:

at least one of the determined at least one data center condition and the determined or estimated current energy usage is monitored in real-time, and

the triggering event comprises a change in the at least one of the determined at least one data center condition and the determined or estimated current energy usage exceeding a previously determined data center condition value or a previously determined or estimated current energy usage value, respectively, by a predetermined threshold.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the historical data comprises at least one of environmental and system snapshots to at least one of establish a baseline and perform the dynamic control of the HVAC system.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the determining or the estimating the current energy usage comprises determining or estimating a current energy cost, and

the determining or the estimating the current energy cost comprises at least one of;

receiving real-time energy demand information from at least one energy demand sensor and determining or estimating the current energy cost based on the real-time energy demand information; and

maintaining a historical database of energy cost/demand data for the data center and determining or estimating the current energy cost based on the historical database of energy cost/demand data.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein a service provider at least one of creates, maintains, deploys and supports the computer infrastructure that performs the steps of claim 1.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein steps of claim 1 are provided by a service provider on a subscription, advertising, and/or fee basis.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising dynamically controlling the HVAC system of the at least one data center during the time frame of the at least one data center condition to maintain the current temperature or the current mean temperature below the predetermined temperature.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising delaying a start of the at least one data center condition in order to dynamically control the HVAC system of the at least one data center in order to pre-cool the at least one data center before the start of the at least one data center condition if the energy usage for the subsequent time frame is optimal in anticipation of the at least one data center condition that will cause the current temperature or the current mean temperature to rise above the predetermined temperature.

14. A system, comprising:

a processor, a computer readable memory and a computer readable storage media;

first program instructions to perform an environmental analysis of at least one data center;

second program instructions to determine a current data center workload for the at least one data center;

third program instructions to determine and track a scheduled data center job for the at least one data center;

fourth program instructions to determine or estimate a current energy cost for the at least one data center;

fifth program instructions to determine whether at least one of the environmental analysis, the current data center workload and the scheduled data center job will cause a rise in a current temperature or a current mean temperature of the at least one data center at a time frame subsequent to a current time;

sixth program instructions to compare the determined at least one of the environmental analysis, the current data center workload, and the scheduled data center job to historical data to obtain similar past data center environmental, workload, or job records;

seventh program instructions to determine whether based on the similar past data center environmental, workload, or job records that without cooling the at least one data center the at least one of the environmental analysis, the current data center workload and the scheduled data center job will cause the current temperature or current mean temperature to rise above a predetermined temperature;

eighth program instructions to determine or estimate whether the current energy cost is lower than an energy cost for the subsequent time frame when the at least one of the environmental analysis, the current data center workload and the scheduled data center job will cause the current temperature or the current mean temperature of the at least one data center to rise above the predetermined temperature;

ninth program instructions to dynamically control a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system of the at least one data center in order to pre-cool the at least one data center if the current energy cost is lower in anticipation of the at least one of the environmental analysis, the current data center workload and the scheduled data center job that will cause the current temperature or the current mean temperature of the at least one data center to rise above the predetermined temperature; and

tenth program instructions to update the determined at least one of the environmental analysis, the current center workload, and the schedule data center job, the determined or estimated current energy cost, and the dynamic control of the HVAC system,

wherein the determined at least one of the environmental analysis, the current center workload, and the schedule data center job, and the updating comprises;

receiving data center environmental data from at least one environmental sensor,

receiving data center current workload information, and

receiving data center scheduled jobs information; and

wherein the first-tenth program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage media for execution by the processor via the computer readable memory.

15. The system of claim 14, comprising a computer infrastructure operable to implement the environmental data monitoring tool, the workload measurement tool, the job schedule monitoring tool, the energy cost monitoring tool and the HVAC control tool.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein a service provider at least one of creates, maintains, deploys and supports the computer infrastructure.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein the system is operable on software, hardware or a combination of software and hardware.

18. A computer program product comprising a computer usable non-transitory medium having readable program code embodied in the memory, the computer program product includes at least one component operable to:

determine whether at least one data center condition that will cause a rise in a current temperature or a current mean temperature of at least one data center is anticipated to occur at a time frame subsequent to a current time;

compare the determined anticipated at least one data center condition to historical data to obtain similar past data center condition records;

determine whether based on the similar past data center condition records that without cooling the at least one data center the anticipated at least one data center condition will cause the current temperature or the current mean temperature of the at least one data center to rise above a predetermined temperature;

determine or estimate whether a current energy usage is optimal over an energy usage for the subsequent time frame when the anticipated at least one data center condition will cause the current temperature or the current mean temperature of the at least one data center to rise above the predetermined temperature;

dynamically control a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system of the at least one data center in order to pre-cool the at least one data center if the current energy usage is optimal in anticipation of the at least one data center condition that will cause the current temperature or the current mean temperature to rise above the predetermined temperature; and

update the determined at least one data center condition, the determined or estimated current energy usage, and the dynamic control of the HVAC system,

wherein;

the determining the at least one data center condition and the updating comprises;

receiving data center environmental data from at least one environmental sensor,

receiving data center current workload information, and

receiving data center scheduled jobs information;

the determining or estimating the current energy usage comprises determining or estimating a current energy cost; and

the determining or estimating the current energy cost comprises;

receiving real-time energy demand information from at least one energy demand sensor and determining or estimating the current energy cost based on the real-time energy demand information, and

maintaining a historical database of energy cost/demand data for the data center and determining or estimating the current energy cost based on the historical database of energy cost/demand data.

19. A method comprising the computer implemented steps of:

determining a current time of day for at least one data center;

determining a current temperature or a current mean temperature for the at least one data center;

determining whether at least one adverse data center condition that will cause a rise in the current temperature or the current mean temperature is anticipated to occur at a time frame subsequent to the current time;

comparing the determined anticipated at least one adverse data center condition to historical data to obtain similar past adverse data condition records;

determining whether based on the similar past adverse data condition records that without cooling the at least one data center the determined anticipated at least one adverse data center condition will cause the current temperature or the current mean temperature for the at least one data center to rise above a predetermined temperature;

determining or estimating whether a current energy cost is lower than an energy cost for the subsequent time frame when the anticipated at least one adverse data center condition will cause the current temperature or the current mean temperature for the at least one data center to rise above the predetermined temperature;

dynamically controlling a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system of the at least one data center in order to pre-cool the at least one data center if the current energy cost is lower in anticipation of the at least one adverse data center condition that will cause the current temperature or the current mean temperature to rise above the predetermined temperature; and

updating the determined at least one adverse data center condition, the determined or estimated current energy cost, and the dynamic control of the HVAC system,

wherein;

the updating the determined at least one adverse data center condition, the determined or estimated current energy cost and the dynamic control of the HVAC system based on at least one of;

an expiration of a predetermined time period,

a manual direction,

an occurrence of a triggering event; and

the determining the at least one adverse data center condition and the updating comprises;

receiving data center environmental data from at least one environmental sensor,

receiving data center current workload information, and

receiving data center scheduled jobs information.