Datacenter Power Management for Remote Server Pools

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Data centers face high electricity bills due to over-commitment of power in servers, as it is difficult to predict server power consumption, leading to inefficient energy usage and increased costs for customers.

Innovation Solution

A datacenter management control module that receives requests to increase server pool capacity, determines available remote cloud servers with capacity, collects power consumption data, and transmits power management commands to control power usage, enabling efficient power management across remote computing services.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If servers are deployed with over-commitment of power to ensure capacity availability, then service reliability is improved, but energy consumption increases and electricity costs rise

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveservice reliabilityVSAvoidenergy consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements dynamic power management by continuously monitoring server utilization metrics and adjusting power allocation in real-time. The system transitions from static over-provisioning to dynamic adaptation, where power commitment levels are adjusted based on actual demand patterns, thereby maintaining service reliability while reducing energy waste during low-utilization periods

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The system employs feedback mechanisms by monitoring server performance metrics, power consumption data, and utilization rates. This feedback loop enables the power management system to make informed decisions about power allocation, adjusting commitments based on actual service demand and preventing both over-provisioning and under-provisioning of power resources

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

2Reliability

If power commitment is increased to meet unpredictable server demand, then service availability is improved, but electricity costs increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveservice availabilityVSAvoidelectricity cost

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSUse of energy by stationary object

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary analysis of historical utilization patterns and predicts future power needs. By anticipating demand fluctuations before they occur, the system can proactively adjust power commitments to match expected usage patterns, ensuring service availability is maintained while avoiding the cost of over-provisioning for peak demands that may not materialize

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent changes key operational parameters including power commitment levels, monitoring thresholds, and allocation strategies based on varying conditions. The system dynamically adjusts these parameters in response to changing utilization patterns, seasonal variations, and workload characteristics, optimizing the balance between service availability and electricity cost

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

3Productivity

If remote servers are added to increase server pool capacity, then productivity is improved, but power consumption and management complexity increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveserver pool capacityVSAvoidpower consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the server pool into distinct groups or zones based on utilization patterns, geographic location, or functional requirements. This segmentation enables granular power management where different power strategies can be applied to different segments, allowing the system to scale productivity by adding remote servers while managing their power consumption independently and efficiently

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

4Loss of energy

If power management control is extended to remote servers across different subnets, then energy efficiency is improved, but device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveenergy efficiencyVSAvoidmanagement complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of energyVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces intermediary components such as gateway devices, protocol translators, or centralized management agents that facilitate power management control across different subnets. These intermediaries handle the complexity of cross-subnet communication and coordination, allowing energy-efficient power management to be extended to remote servers without directly increasing the complexity at each individual server or endpoint

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentUS10067547B2Power management control of remote servers

Publication Date: 2018.09.04 INTEL CORP

AI summary

Servers, storage medium and methods associated with control of power management services of remote servers of a remote computing service are disclosed herein. In embodiments, an apparatus to control power consumption of computer hardware may comprise a datacenter management control module to receive a request to increase capacity of a server pool from a computing device; determine an available server with available capacity that includes a power management controller to collect power consumption data for one or more of a power supply, a memory, or a processor of the available server, wherein the available server may be a remote cloud server in a different subnet than the server pool and the computing device; add or facilitate addition of the available server to the server pool; and transmit power management commands to the server added to the server pool to at least partially control power consumption of the server provided with the power management commands. Other embodiments may be disclosed or claimed.