Patent Application
20110251966
1. Field
The disclosure relates generally to data center management and more specifically to intelligently assessing the power profile of a data center by accounting for carbon costs of energy.
2. Description of the Related Art
Data centers provide computer resources in support of service level agreements between customers and service providers. Customers enter into service level agreements that specify a cost for the service provided. The cost for the services provided includes the cost of energy to operate the data center and to run the servers and other equipment in accordance with the service level agreement. Customers may look to other factors than a final cost figure. For example, in many industries, customers look for “green solutions,” which are services that take into account the environmental impact of providing the services. Some customers prefer to pay more for a “green solution” than for a traditional solution because doing so provides goodwill benefits to the customers' reputation with the public and those who in turn consume the customer's own services.
Data center profiles provide information to management on the number of servers in the data center, the performance of the servers in the data center, and the total power requirements of the data center facility. Data center profiles are useful for determining what workloads may be run on the available servers. However, data center profiles do not provide information for determining the lowest total cost method of running a workload. Current data center profiles do not take into account environmental costs in providing the data center services in support of service level agreements. For example, current data center profiles do not take into account information regarding the source of the power consumed by the data center. For example, the source of the power consumed by the data center could come from a nuclear power plant, a coal burning power plant, a geothermal power plant, a solar farm, a wind farm, or other types of electric energy production. Each type of source may have a particular cost at which it sells its power, but each also has a different environmental impact measurable in terms of the amount of carbon dioxide introduced into the atmosphere to generate a particular amount of energy.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a method, apparatus, and computer program code that may overcome one or more of the issues described above, as well as other possible issues.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, a system provides data center services in accordance with an environmental requirement. The system comprises a service oriented architecture comprising a plurality of service level agreements, a plurality of data centers, each of the plurality of data centers having a computing system, the computing system comprising a monitoring agent, a static data interface, and a prediction agent. The monitoring agent acquires a plurality of dynamic data comprising a plurality of workload characteristics, a plurality of current workload data, a plurality of historic power consumption data, a plurality of workload inflow rates, and a plurality of workload outflow rates. The static data interface acquires a plurality of peak rate data, a plurality of power source characteristics, a plurality of data center characteristics, and a plurality of data transport costs. The prediction agent, by one or more processors of the computing system, uses the plurality of power vendor data, the plurality of dynamic data, and the plurality of static data, and calculates a future power consumption and a future operating cost. The future operating cost includes a future carbon cost indicating the amount of carbon associated with satisfying the future power consumption.
The novel features believed characteristic of the advantageous embodiments are set forth in the appended claims. The advantageous embodiments, however, as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives, and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of an advantageous embodiment of the present disclosure when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
With reference now to the figures and in particular with reference to
In the depicted example, server 104 and server 106 connect to network 102 along with storage unit 108. In addition, clients 110, 112, and 114 connect to network 102. Clients 110, 112, and 114 may be, for example, personal computers or network computers. In the depicted example, server 104 provides information, such as boot files, operating system images, and applications to clients 110, 112, and 114. Clients 110, 112, and 114 are clients to server 104 in this example. Network data processing system 100 may include additional servers, clients, and other devices not shown.
Program code located in network data processing system 100 may be stored on a computer recordable storage medium and downloaded to a data processing system or other device for use. For example, program code may be stored on a computer recordable storage medium on server 104 and downloaded to client 110 over network 102 for use on client 110.
In the depicted example, network data processing system 100 is the Internet with network 102 representing a worldwide collection of networks and gateways that use the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) suite of protocols to communicate with one another. At the heart of the Internet is a backbone of high-speed data communication lines between major nodes or host computers, consisting of thousands of commercial, governmental, educational and other computer systems that route data and messages. Of course, network data processing system 100 also may be implemented as a number of different types of networks, such as for example, an intranet, a local area network (LAN), or a wide area network (WAN).
With reference now to
Processor unit 204 serves to run instructions for software that may be loaded into memory 206. Processor unit 204 may be a set of one or more processors or may be a multi-processor core, depending on the particular implementation. Further, processor unit 204 may be implemented using one or more heterogeneous processor systems, in which a main processor is present with secondary processors on a single chip. As another illustrative example, processor unit 204 may be a symmetric multi-processor system containing multiple processors of the same type.
Memory 206 and persistent storage 208 are examples of storage devices 216. A storage device is any piece of hardware that is capable of storing information, such as, for example, without limitation, data, program code in functional form, and/or other suitable information either on a temporary basis and/or a permanent basis. Memory 206, in these examples, may be, for example, a random access memory, or any other suitable volatile or non-volatile storage device. Persistent storage 208 may take various forms, depending on the particular implementation. For example, persistent storage 208 may contain one or more components or devices. For example, persistent storage 208 may be a hard drive, a flash memory, a rewritable optical disk, a rewritable magnetic tape, or some combination of the above. The media used by persistent storage 208 may be removable. For example, a removable hard drive may be used for persistent storage 208.
Communications unit 210, in these examples, provides for communication with other data processing systems or devices. In these examples, communications unit 210 is a network interface card. Communications unit 210 may provide communications through the use of either or both physical and wireless communications links.
Input/output unit 212 allows for the input and output of data with other devices that may be connected to data processing system 200. For example, input/output unit 212 may provide a connection for user input through a keyboard, a mouse, and/or some other suitable input device. Further, input/output unit 212 may send output to a printer. Display 214 provides a mechanism to display information to a user.
Instructions for the operating system, applications, and/or programs may be located in storage devices 216, which are in communication with processor unit 204 through communications fabric 202. In these illustrative examples, the instructions are in a functional form on persistent storage 208. These instructions may be loaded into memory 206 for running by processor unit 204. The processes of the different embodiments may be performed by processor unit 204 using computer implemented instructions, which may be located in a memory, such as memory 206.
These instructions are referred to as program code, computer usable program code, or computer readable program code that may be read and run by a processor in processor unit 204. The program code, in the different embodiments, may be embodied on different physical or computer readable storage media, such as memory 206 or persistent storage 208.
Program code 218 is located in a functional form on computer readable media 220 that is selectively removable and may be loaded onto or transferred to data processing system 200 for running by processor unit 204. Program code 218 and computer readable media 220 form computer program product 222. In one example, computer readable media 220 may be computer readable storage media 224 or computer readable signal media 226. Computer readable storage media 224 may include, for example, an optical or magnetic disc that is inserted or placed into a drive or other device that is part of persistent storage 208 for transfer onto a storage device, such as a hard drive, that is part of persistent storage 208. Computer readable storage media 224 also may take the form of a persistent storage, such as a hard drive, a thumb drive, or a flash memory that is connected to data processing system 200. In some instances, computer readable storage media 224 may not be removable from data processing system 200.
Alternatively, program code 218 may be transferred to data processing system 200 using computer readable signal media 226. Computer readable signal media 226 may be, for example, a propagated data signal containing program code 218. For example, computer readable signal media 226 may be an electro-magnetic signal, an optical signal, and/or any other suitable type of signal. These signals may be transmitted over communications links, such as wireless communications links, an optical fiber cable, a coaxial cable, a wire, and/or any other suitable type of communications link. In other words, the communications link and/or the connection may be physical or wireless in the illustrative examples. The computer readable media also may take the form of non-tangible media, such as communications links or wireless transmissions containing the program code.
In some illustrative embodiments, program code 218 may be downloaded over a network to persistent storage 208 from another device or data processing system through computer readable signal media 226 for use within data processing system 200. For instance, program code stored in a computer readable storage media in a server data processing system may be downloaded over a network from the server to data processing system 200. The data processing system providing program code 218 may be a server computer, a client computer, or some other device capable of storing and transmitting program code 218.
The different components illustrated for data processing system 200 are not meant to provide architectural limitations to the manner in which different embodiments may be implemented. The different illustrative embodiments may be implemented in a data processing system including components in addition to or in place of those illustrated for data processing system 200. Other components shown in
As another example, a storage device in data processing system 200 is any hardware apparatus that may store data. Memory 206, persistent storage 208, and computer readable media 220 are examples of storage devices in a tangible form.
In another example, a bus system may be used to implement communications fabric 202 and may be comprised of one or more buses, such as a system bus or an input/output bus. Of course, the bus system may be implemented using any suitable type of architecture that provides for a transfer of data between different components or devices attached to the bus system. Additionally, a communications unit may include one or more devices used to transmit and receive data, such as a modem or a network adapter. Further, a memory may be, for example, memory 206 or a cache such as found in an interface and memory controller hub that may be present in communications fabric 202.
As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, the present invention may be embodied as a system, method or computer program product. Accordingly, the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit”, “module”, or “system.” Furthermore, the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied in any tangible medium of expression having computer usable program code embodied in the medium.
Any combination of one or more computer usable or computer readable medium(s) may be utilized. The computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagation medium. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer-readable medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CDROM), an optical storage device, a transmission media such as those supporting the Internet or an intranet, or a magnetic storage device. Note that the computer-usable or computer-readable medium could even be paper or another suitable medium upon which the program is printed, as the program can be electronically captured, via, for instance, optical scanning of the paper or other medium, then compiled, interpreted, or otherwise processed in a suitable manner, if necessary, and then stored in a computer memory. In the context of this document, a computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be any medium that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction running system, apparatus, or device. The computer-usable medium may include a propagated data signal with the computer-usable program code embodied therewith, either in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. The computer usable program code may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, line, optical fiber cable, RF, etc.
Computer program code for carrying out operations of the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may run entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).
The present invention is described below with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions.
These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which run via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable medium that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which run on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
With reference now to
Power vendors file 340 comprises a number of energy production methods that may include one or more of coal 342, nuclear 344, solar 346, wind 348, ocean 350, geothermal 352 and other 354. Power vendors file 340 also comprises average carbon value 356. Average carbon value 356 may be an average of each carbon value for each type of energy production method used by a power vendor. Data management systems 360 comprise computing system 361. Computing system 361 comprises data centers 362. Data centers 362 comprise power requirements 363, clients 358 and monitoring agent 364. Monitoring agent 364 comprises sensors 365, static data interface 380, and prediction agent 390. Sensors 365 comprise dynamic data 366. Dynamic data 366 comprises workload characteristics 368, historic power consumption 370, current workloads 372, and workflow in/out flow rates 374. The different advantageous embodiments recognize and take into account that dynamic data is gathered automatically as the data center operates, and includes workload characteristics, histories of power consumption relative to time of day, number of active workloads, and emigration patterns of workloads in and out of the data center.
Static data interface 380 comprises static data 381. Static data 381 comprises peak rates 382, data center characteristics 384, power source characteristics 386, and data transport costs 388. The different advantageous embodiments recognize and take into account that static data is entered as needed by data center personnel, and includes information about power rates and sources from the power companies. The different advantageous embodiments recognize and take into account that static data may include a configuration of the data center itself and data transportation costs to and from other data centers. Prediction agent 390 comprises predictions 391. Predictions 391 comprise future power consumption 392 and future operating costs 394. Future operating costs may comprise future carbon cost 395. The different advantageous embodiments recognize and take into account that static and dynamic data may be combined to produce predictions of future data center metrics. The different advantageous embodiments recognize and take into account that current data center-level profiles only account for the number and/or performance of servers they contain and, possibly, the total power requirement of the facility. This information is useful for determining what workloads may run on the available hardware but lacks information necessary for determining the lowest total cost method of running a workload. Current solutions are static and don't account for the source of energy. For example, current solutions do not account for whether energy is generated by a coal plant or by a solar farm. Moreover, current solutions do not take into account the total cost of acquiring that energy because total cost calculations do not take into account a cost associated with carbon dioxide produced in production of the energy. The different advantageous embodiments recognize and take into account that a carbon value associated with energy consumed in providing a given amount of data processing services will vary if the energy produced originates from a solar farm or if the energy originates from a coal fired plant. Also, costs associated with providing a given amount of data processing services vary during peak times and during off-peak times, and metrics capturing such varying costs are needed for scheduling data center workloads to provide services to clients at the lowest costs. The various advantageous embodiments take into account carbon dioxide costs of energy production, total energy costs at different times of day, and projections of future costs based on statistical analysis of past energy consumption by past workloads. The advantageous embodiments take into account that carbon dioxide costs may be used to provide intelligent workload migration tools.
The different advantageous embodiments recognize and take into account that future data center metrics may include future power consumption future operating costs, and future data center workload. The different advantageous embodiments recognize and take into account that data is entered into a database application or incorporated into an existing solution such that the profile may be retrieved an arbitrary number of times via a network connection. The different advantageous embodiments recognize and take into account that a new iteration of data center level profiles are needed that include information on the source of the energy, the local market price for all times of the day, and statistical projections of future energy needs based on past consumption and workload data. The different advantageous embodiments recognize and take into account the advantage of a system containing the foregoing information is that a total energy cost can be calculated including factors such as a carbon value and energy availability over the course of the day. The different advantageous embodiments recognize and take into account that such a system enables existing and future tools to intelligently assess the total costs associated with using a specific data center at a given time.
The different advantageous embodiments recognize and take into account that current data center profiles do not recognize the source of energy provided to run the data center operations. The different advantageous embodiments recognize and take into account that current data center profiles do not recognize the total cost of acquiring the energy sold to the data centers to run the data center operations, when the environmental costs of carbon produced in energy production is taken into account. The different advantageous embodiments recognize and take into account that an intelligent assessment of a power profile of a data center includes total energy costs at different times of the day, statistical projections of future costs based on statistical analysis of past energy consumption and workloads. The different advantageous embodiments recognize and take into account that a total energy cost can be calculated that includes a carbon value, a source of energy, and energy availability over a course of the day.
The different advantageous embodiments recognize and take into account that green data can be used as marketing tool. The different advantageous embodiments recognize and take into account that data center management includes the cost to move workload from one data center to another due to costs in time and costs in transferring the workload. The different advantageous embodiments recognize and take into account that a data center may have several types of energy production used by a number of providers.
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The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more runable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be run substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be run in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of all means or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended to include any structure, material, or act for performing the function in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. The description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. The embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.
The invention can take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment containing both hardware and software elements. In a preferred embodiment, the invention is implemented in software, which includes but is not limited to firmware, resident software, microcode, etc.
Furthermore, the invention can take the form of a computer program product accessible from a computer-usable or computer-readable medium providing program code for use by or in connection with a computer or any instruction running system. For the purposes of this description, a computer-usable or computer readable medium can be any tangible apparatus that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction running system, apparatus, or device.
The medium can be an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system (or apparatus or device) or a propagation medium. Examples of a computer-readable medium include a semiconductor or solid state memory, magnetic tape, a removable computer diskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a rigid magnetic disk and an optical disk. Current examples of optical disks include compact disk-read only memory (CD-ROM), compact disk-read/write (CD-R/W) and DVD.
A data processing system suitable for storing and/or running program code will include at least one processor coupled directly or indirectly to memory elements through a system bus. The memory elements can include local memory employed during actual running of the program code, bulk storage, and cache memories which provide temporary storage of at least some program code in order to reduce the number of times code must be retrieved from bulk storage during running.
Input/output or I/O devices (including but not limited to keyboards, displays, pointing devices, etc.) can be coupled to the system either directly or through intervening I/O controllers.
Network adapters may also be coupled to the system to enable the data processing system to become coupled to other data processing systems or remote printers or storage devices through intervening networks. Modems, cable modem and Ethernet cards are just a few of the currently available types of network adapters.
The description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, and is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. The embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention, the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.
