Technology with the Environment in Mind

Dynamic Data Center Power Management: Trends, Issues, and Solutions

David Filani, Digital Enterprise Group, Intel Corporation
Jackson He, Digital Enterprise Group, Intel Corporation
Sam Gao, Digital Enterprise Group, Intel Corporation
Murali Rajappa, Digital Enterprise Group, Intel Corporation
Anil Kumar, Digital Enterprise Group, Intel Corporation
Pinkesh Shah, Digital Enterprise Group, Intel Corporation
Ram Nagappan, Digital Enterprise Group, Intel Corporation

Index words: dynamic power management, data center, data center operations, energy efficiency, platform management policy, power limiting, power capping

Citations for this paper. Filani, D.; He, J.; Gao, S.; Rajappa, M.; Kumar, A.; Shah, P.; Nagappan, R. "Dynamic Data Center Power Management: Trends, Issues, and Solutions." Intel Technology Journal. http://www.intel.com/technology/itj/2008/
v12i1/6-datacenter/1-abstract.htm (February 2008).

ABSTRACT

In this paper we examine the challenges of increasing data center power consumption and higher energy costs in the face of ever-increasing computing needs. An examination of how power is allocated to computing resources in data centers shows that current methods do not result in optimal use of available data center power and space. We identify requirements that server platforms must address to solve data center power problems, and we offer a solution that includes a platform resident Policy Manager (PM). The PM monitors power and thermal sensors and enforces platform power and thermal policies. We explain how the PM can be used as the basis of a data center power management solution. We present results from a Proof of Concept (PoC) implementation, and we conclude by showing that a policy-based approach is powerful for maximizing power allocation within a given power envelope and increasing server density in data centers.

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