Case Study Intel® Data Center Manager (Intel® DCM) Reducing the Power Consumption of HPC Environments
Monitoring the temperature and power consumption of each
server with Intel® DCM and reducing power consumption by up
to 5-8% through allocation to nodes with high power efficiency
Satisfying facility power regulations and social demand for energy conservation
Academic Center for Computing and
Media Studies, Kyoto University
Location: Yoshida-honmachi, Sakyo-ku,
Kyoto-shi, ...Kyoto
Established: April 1969
Activities: Research and development related
to advanced use of IT platforms and
media, and development, operation, and
management of the campus’ IT environment
http://www.media.kyoto-u.ac.jp/
Hiroshi Nakashima (Center)
Professor, Ph. D.
Academic Center for Computing and Media Studies, Kyoto University
Keiichiro Fukazawa (Right)
Associate Professor, Ph. D.
Academic Center for Computing and Media Studies, Kyoto University
Junichi Hikita (Left)
Leader Supercomputing Section
Planning and Information Management Department
IT Service Division, Kyoto University
Challenge • Monitoring CPU and memory power consumption to improve HPC power efficiency
• Power capping to satisfy the facility and social demands
Solution • Intel® Data Center Manager (Intel® DCM)
• Cluster-type HPC equipped with Intel® Xeon® and Intel® Xeon Phi™ processors
Providing advanced IT services to Kyoto University and research institutes
across Japan
The Kyoto University Academic Center for Computing and Media Studies (ACCMS) promotes
research and development using a five-department structure which includes the fields of
networks, supercomputing, educational systems utilizing multimedia, and digital academic
content, as well as collaborative research. It also functions as a base which incorporates IT
platform network centers from eight universities nationwide for joint use and collaborative
research, supporting the utilization of its supercomputer system (HPC) and collaborating
with researchers in various computational science fields. The office of Professor Hiroshi
Nakashima engages in various research related to HPC and works in cooperation with
the University’s Institute for Information Management and Communication IT Platforms
Department to help improve services.
A vector-type HPC system was first introduced in 1985, with a transition to a scalar type
occurring in 2004. Since then, the system has been refreshed roughly every four years,
with overhauls in 2008, 2012, and 2016. The HPC environment as of 2018 consists of three
systems: two cluster systems comprised of HPC servers featuring Intel® Xeon® processors,
and one MPP system comprised of HPC servers featuring Intel® Xeon Phi™ processors. This
system provides an overall computational performance of 6.5524 PFlops. “At present, 40%
of the use of the ACCMS HPC system occurs within Kyoto University, with the remaining 60%
occurring externally. Although the number of users is growing year upon year, our policy
is to maintain an operating ratio of approximately 70% to allow us room to cope,” explains
Professor Nakashima.
Improving power efficiency rates essential for reducing user costs
HPC operation is significantly affected by the power consumption of servers. One reason
for this is a facility-related issue, with the maximum amount of suppliable power (power
cap) being determined based on the facility. “In particular, there was a movement to cap
HPC power consumption across Japan in the wake of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake,” recalls
Professor Nakashima.
Furthermore, nuclear power plants throughout Japan stopped operating as a result of
the earthquake, and power prices rose roughly 50% at peak times in the Kansai region. As
usage charges for the HPC system also include electricity fees, there has been a demand for
improvedpower efficiency rates to reduce the cost to the user.
However, the pace of improvement in power efficiency
Read the full Case Study
Intel® Data Center Manager (Intel® DCM)
Reducing the Power Consumption of HPC Environments.