IBM zEnterprise energy management

Abstract

Data centers are facing serious energy challenges. Increasing energy costs make the operation and cooling of servers more significant cost factors. Furthermore, improvements in technology have led to processor chips and systems with rapidly increasing power density. The resulting power consumption and cooling requirements of these systems are pushing many existing data centers to the limits of their power distribution capability and cooling capacity. Improvements in energy efficiency and management are needed at the chip and the system level to counteract this trend. This paper provides a comprehensive description of the hardware and firmware improvements implemented with IBM zEnterprise A 196 to stop the growth of and even reduce its energy footprint compared with previous IBM System z A servers. These include more power-efficient chips; power conversion and distribution; new sensors; cooling control firmware; new energy management functions; integrated hybrid energy management for power saving and power capping across the whole hybrid system; and data center energy-efficiency improvements resulting from options for water cooling, high-voltage DC (HVDC) power, and overhead cabling.

A built-in BTI monitor for long-term data collection in IBM microprocessors

“…11. The average temperature in System 1 is about 13 degrees hotter than System 2 due to the difference in cooling [14]. These differences are consistent with the accelerating effect of temperature and voltage on BTI degradation.…”

“…System 1 is operated at a voltage which is about 80mV higher than that of System 2. (In z196 the voltage for each chip is individually tuned to compensate for process variations [14]) The measured temperature, in the center of the chip near the L2 cache where the ring oscillators are placed, is shown in Fig. 11.…”

IBM z13: Energy efficiency, increased environmental range, and flexible data center characteristics

“…Starting with the zEnterprise 196 (z196) [14] in 2010, there has been a fixed power and thermal footprint compared to the preceding system, despite large improvements in system capability and throughput. Triple redundant altitude (air density) and temperature sensors provide the input required for advanced blower speed control algorithms that saved significant power for systems that are located near sea level, which most are.…”

Advancing reliability, availability, and serviceability with the IBM z13

“…Each generation of the IBM z Systems* changes [1][2][3], as system capacity grows, speed and complexity increases, power [4] and thermal requirements [5,6] increase, and customer requirements increase. Reliability, availability, serviceability (RAS) must improve with each generation change as well [7][8][9].…”