Patent Application
20060161794
1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems and, more particularly, to a system and method of prioritizing power throttling of subsystems in the information handling system.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users are information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes, thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems, e.g., computer, personal computer workstation, portable computer, computer server, print server, network router, network hub, network switch, storage area network disk array, RAID disk system and telecommunications switch.
An information handling system is powered from a power supply system that receives and converts alternating current (AC) power to direct current (DC) power at utilization voltages required by the electronic modules comprising the information handling system. The power supply system tightly regulates these utilization voltages and incorporates over current protection for each of the voltages. To further provide increased reliability of the power supply system, a plurality of power supply units (PSU) may be provided and coupled in parallel so that the loss or malfunction of one or more of the PSUs will not totally disable operation of the information handling system.
As consumer demand increases for smaller and denser information handling systems, manufacturers strive to integrate more computer components into a smaller space. This integration has led to the development of several applications, including high density servers. A high density server provides the computer processing resources of several computers in a small amount of space. A typical arrangement for a high density server includes a shared power supply system, a management module, a connection board (e.g., a back-plane or mid-plane) and server modules, such as blade server modules.
Blade server modules, or “blades,” are miniaturized server modules that typically are powered from a common power supply system and are cooled by cooling system within a multi-server cabinet. Typically, a blade includes a circuit board with one or more processors, memory, a connection port, and possibly a disk drive for storage. By arranging a plurality of blades like books on a shelf in the multi-server cabinet, a high density multi-server system achieves significant cost and space savings over a plurality of conventional servers. These savings result directly from the sharing of common resources (e.g., power supplies, cooling systems, enclosures, etc.,) and the reduction of space required by this type of multi-server system while providing a significant increase in available computer processing power.
Each generation of server has increased power requirements. These ever increasing power requirements are pushing cost effective design limits for multi-server systems that contain a power supply system adequate to power the plurality of servers comprising the multi-server system. Common power supplies are reaching or exceeding their maximum level of providing power. In some servers, the power requirements for a fully configured system may exceed the available power capacity of the shared power supply system. Typically, an under-capacity power supply system may have been used to save money or to prevent dangerous and excessive power density levels from being placed into a single multi-server system. However, using under-designed shared power supply systems leaves the multi-server system susceptible to the power supply system being over-subscribed and shutting down, resulting in the shutdown of the entire multi-server system.
Therefore, there is a need for preventing the shutdown of an entire multi-server system due to an associated power supply system being over-subscribed. To prevent the entire multi-server system from shutting down due to the associated power supply system being over-subscribed, a throttling mechanism must be implemented to restrict the multi-server system peak power demands. However, the throttling mechanism must not cause problems for servers running critical applications.
The present invention remedies the shortcomings of the prior art by providing a system, method and apparatus for an information handling system, e.g., a multi-server system, that comprises a power supply system which identifies itself as a power supply system that has a power capacity lower (e.g., under-designed power supply system) than the theoretical maximum power requirements of the connected information handling system (e.g., multi-server system). The output power of the power supply system may be monitored as a percentage of the total available power capacity therefrom. A first power threshold may be user configurable so that when the power output exceeds the first power threshold, at least one of the servers in the information handling system may be requested (e.g., software instruction and/or hardware signal) to throttle back power usage. Server management software may generate a warning indicating that a power throttling request has been triggered. A power throttling software routine may, for example, request power throttling of a blade server having the highest slot number or having the lowest priority. Power throttling may occur in a server by suspending computational activities, reducing processor clock speed and/or voltage to the processor(s) of the server (e.g., software and/or hardware controllable). The priority for power throttling of each server may be user configurable, e.g., based upon server priority, user service subscription status, highest power consumption, etc. Power throttling may remain in effect until power drops below a second power threshold that may be lower than the first power threshold (e.g., hysteresis). The second power threshold may also be user configurable.
A technical advantage of the present invention is use of lower capacity power supplies for powering a plurality of servers. Still another technical advantage is configurable power throttling requests e.g., according to a user defined priority schedule. Yet another technical advantage is power throttling requests of lowest priority server power loads. Another technical advantage is power throttling requests according to a user service subscription. Another technical advantage is power throttling requests of the highest power server(s). Other technical advantages should be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of what has been disclosed herein.
A more complete understanding of the present disclosure and advantages thereof may be acquired by referring to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:
The present invention may be susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms. Specific exemplary embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawing and are described herein in detail. It should be understood, however, that the description set forth herein of specific embodiments is not intended to limit the present invention to the particular forms disclosed. Rather, all modifications, alternatives, and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims are intended to be covered.
For purposes of this disclosure, an information handling system may include any instrumentality or aggregate of instrumentalities operable to compute, classify, process, transmit, receive, retrieve, originate, switch, store, display, manifest, detect, record, reproduce, handle, or utilize any form of information, intelligence, or data for business, scientific, control, or other purposes. For example, an information handling system may be a personal computer, a network storage device, or any other suitable device and may vary in size, shape, performance, functionality, and price. The information handling system may include random access memory (RAM), one or more processing resources such as a central processing unit (CPU), hardware or software control logic, read only memory (ROM), and/or other types of nonvolatile memory. Additional components of the information handling system may include one or more disk drives, one or more network ports for communicating with external devices as well as various input and output (I/O) devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a video display. The information handling system may also include one or more buses operable to transmit communications between the various hardware components.
Referring now to the drawings, the details of specific exemplary embodiments of the present invention are schematically illustrated. Like elements in the drawings will be represented by like numbers, and similar elements will be represented by like numbers with a different lower case letter suffix.
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The high density server system 10 may be coupled to other computer components such as keyboards, video displays and pointing devices (not expressly shown) using management module 14 via a connection 18. Typically, the management module 14 may control the connectivity of the at least one server module 20 of the server system 10. In one instance, connection 18 may couple a keyboard, video and mouse (KVM) to the management module 14 such that management module enables communications and control signals between the at least one server module 20 and other computer system modules (not expressly shown). Generally, management module 14 may be coupled to the mid-plane 12, such as for example, on an opposite side of the mid-plane 12 from the at least one server module 20. In another embodiment, the management module 14 may be placed external to the server system 10 for control of the at least one server module 20.
Typically, server system 10 may include more than one power supply 16 such that a redundant power source may be provided. The power supply 16 supplies a power supply output, e.g., an electrical voltage(s) to each server module 20. Generally, the power supply output (described below in more detail) connects through mid-plane 12 for distribution to each of the at least one server modules 20.
In one specific embodiment, the server module 20 comprises a blade server 20. Each blade server 20 may include a circuit board with one or more processors, memory, a connection port, and possibly a disk drive for storage (not shown). Depending on the size of server system 10, one or more server blades 20 may be connected to server system 10 such that power is provided by power supply 16 via mid-plane 12. The output to each server blade 20 may be controlled or throttled based on priority of a particular server module 20 such that the power drawn by the server blades 20 does not exceed the available power from the power supply 16.
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The invention, therefore, is well adapted to carry out the objects and to attain the ends and advantages mentioned, as well as others inherent therein. While the invention has been depicted, described, and is defined by reference to exemplary embodiments of the invention, such references do not imply a limitation on the invention, and no such limitation is to be inferred. The invention is capable of considerable modification, alteration, and equivalents in form and function, as will occur to those ordinarily skilled in the pertinent arts and having the benefit of this disclosure. The depicted and described embodiments of the invention are exemplary only, and are not exhaustive of the scope of the invention. Consequently, the invention is intended to be limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended claims, giving full cognizance to equivalents in all respects.
