Power and Cooling Innovations inDell PowerEdge Servers
This technical white paper describes the Dell PowerEdge Energy Smart
Architecture and the new and enhanced features designed into Dell
PowerEdge 13th generation servers

Dell Enterprise Systems Engineering
March 2016
John Jenne
Craig Klein

A Dell Technical White Paper

Revisions
Date

Description

March 2016

Initial release

This white paper is for informational purposes only, and may contain typographical errors and technicalinaccuracies. The content is provided as is, without express or implied warranties of any kind.
Copyright © 2016 Dell Inc. All rights reserved. Dell and the Dell logo are trademarks of Dell Inc. in the
United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarksof their respective companies.

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Power and Cooling Innovations in Dell PowerEdge Servers

Table of contents
Executive summary ................................................................................................................................................ 4
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................ 4
Dell’s Energy Smart Architecture ......................................................................................................................... 5
Design ...................................................................................................................................................................... 6
Measure.................................................................................................................................................................... 9Control ................................................................................................................................................................... 10
Report..................................................................................................................................................................... 12
Additional Information ........................................................................................................................................ 15
About the Authors ................................................................................................................................................ 15

TablesTable 1

Design core tenets - Dell Energy Smart technologies ...................................................................... 5

Figures
Dell PowerEdge SPECPower evolution ........................................................................................... 4
PowerEdge PSU portfolio ................................................................................................................... 7
Power supply power loss across system loads............................................................................... 8
PowerEdge power monitoring capabilities ..................................................................................... 9
System-level power monitoring accuracy ...................................................................................... 9Power capping example ................................................................................................................... 10
EPR example with redundant (1+1) PSU configuration ................................................................11
PSU hot spare—redundant PSU power dissipation...................................................................... 12
iDRAC8 Power Monitoring GUI ....................................................................................................... 13
OpenManage Power Center power monitoring GUI .................................................................. 143Power and Cooling Innovations in Dell PowerEdge Servers

Executive summary
Dell PowerEdge servers continue to evolve to deliver industry-leading value by reducing power
consumption and providing intelligent power management features at the server and data center level. In
this white paper, you will learn about enhancements to Dell’s Energy Smart Architecture that are
integrated into the latest Dell PowerEdge 13th generation servers.

Introduction
Dell’s latest generation of PowerEdge servers build upon the Dell Energy Smart Architecture (DESA)
introduced in previous generations of PowerEdge servers. DESA took the approach of including highpower efficiency and intelligent power management as part of the platform’s base features, enabling Dellcustomers to compute more while consuming less.
DESA features offer high efficiency, intelligent power management capabilities, increased ROI, and new or
improved data center usage models. Examples include:••••

Power supply right sizing
IDLE power efficiency
Circuit breaker power cappingHigh accuracy power monitoring

Dell PowerEdge servers continue to evolve by significantly reducing power consumption with each new
generation as illustrated in Figure 1.

Dell PowerEdge SPECPower evolution

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Power and Cooling Innovations in Dell PowerEdge Servers

While this white paper focuses on highlighting the DESA features in Dell PowerEdge servers, visit the Dell
Power and Cooling Technologies page 1 for additional information on values, strategy, implementation,
components, and best practices.

Dell’s Energy Smart Architecture
Dell’s Energy Smart Architecture is comprised of four core tenets: design, measure, control, and report.
New and enhanced Dell Energy Smart technologies have been developed for each of the four core tenets.
The majority of these technologies are leveraged across the Dell PowerEdge 13th generation server
portfolio (including rack, tower, and blade servers) to provide consistency and compatibility. Table 1
highlights some of the notable enhanced technologies found in Dell PowerEdge 13th generation servers.
Table 1

Design core tenets - Dell Energy Smart technologies

DesignPower supply• Common form factor• Extended Power Range for CPU
transients• High efficiency main andauxiliary power rails• Right-sized for the system• Hot Spare• Smart Power Factor Correction

Voltage regulator (VR)• High efficiency• Switching• Phase shedding• Configuration-based tuning

Components• Low voltage processors• Low voltage DDR4 DIMMs• SSDs• Software RAID option• HDDs with standby

Thermal• High-airflow chassis• Optimized heat sinks• Independent fan control• Pulse width modulation fans
• Low power fans

BIOS
• Processor P, C, T-states• DDR4 frequency selection• DDR4 CKE and self refresh• Turbo Boost disable

Board design• Low-loss layout• Low-loss materials• Low-loss connectors

Power• Amperage, BTUs, voltage, andwatts• High accuracy• Components: power supplies,
processor, memory, storage, I/O,
fans

Performance• Processor utilization• Memory throughput• I/O throughput

MeasureTemperature• Ambient, exhaust• Components: processor,
chipset, DIMMs, hard drives,• PCIe adapters, power supplies

1

Dell Power and Cooling Technologies: http://www.dell.com/en-us/work/learn/power-and-cooling-technologies

5Power and Cooling Innovations in Dell PowerEdge Servers

Control
BIOS• Enhanced Active Power
Controller• (OS independent process• power management)• OS enabled processor power
management• System Profileso Performanceo Performance per Watto Dense configuration• Processor core disable• Host LOM port disable• External and internal USB port
disable• Unused component disable

Firmware• Data center electrical andthermal power capping• Non-linear fan curve• Adaptive thermal algorithm• Closed loop thermalmonitoring and throttling• Dynamic DIMM 2x refresh• System thermal power capping• Management LOM port disable• Memory VR phase shedding
Dell OpenManage™
• Remote power On/Off• Power inventory/budget• Staggered power on• Remote power On/Off• Right-size PSU protection• Extended Power Range• Physical Disk PowerManagement• IDLE memory control

Dell OpenManage Power
Center• Group level (rack, aisle, data
center) power capping

ReportDell iDRAC8
Dell OpenManage Power Center• Node level power reporting:• Provides group level (rack, aisle, data center) reporting• averages, peaks, real-time• Group level power reporting: averages, peaks, real-time• Node level reporting• Group level reporting mechanisms include tables and graphs
mechanisms include tables and • Group level alarms/alerts, including power cap not-maintainedgraphs• Node level alarms/alerts,
including power cap not
maintained

DesignWith the 12th generation of Dell PowerEdge servers, Dell introduced a power supply (PSU) portfolio with acommon form factor. This strategy has been carried over into the next generation, with new andenhanced designs for Dell PowerEdge 13th generation servers. The common PSU form factor lets you
helps you select from a rich set of PSU options for capacity, input (AC or DC), or efficiency.
Figure 2 highlights the PSU options that are supported by the majority of the new 13th generation
PowerEdge server portfolio. Some value platforms also support a low-cost cabled PSU option.

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Power and Cooling Innovations in Dell PowerEdge ServersPowerEdge PSU portfolio

7Power and Cooling Innovations in Dell PowerEdge Servers

The PowerEdge PSUs meet 80 PLUS® efficiency requirements for Platinum level with an Energy Smart
option to upgrade to Titanium level. Dell PowerEdge servers are equipped with industry-leading PSU
efficiencies that meet 80 PLUS’s most stringent Titanium efficiency requirements.
Figure 3 highlights the reduced power dissipation benefits of right sizing and high efficiency ofPowerEdge 86mm PSUs.

Power supply power loss across system loads

Power delivery efficiency is also improved through voltage regulator (VR) enhancements such as highefficiency design, intelligent phase shedding, and ability to tune operation for a given server
configuration.
PowerEdge servers support a software RAID option for storage configurations with four SATA HDDs or
less. While hardware RAID support improves performance and robustness, there is a power penalty.
Depending on your requirements, software RAID provides an excellent RAID alternative to reduce
platform power consumption.

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Power and Cooling Innovations in Dell PowerEdge Servers

Measure
PowerEdge servers integrate a custom version of Intel® Node Manager firmware, the product of a joint
Dell and Intel development effort. Node Manager provides rich power monitoring capabilities, including
system-level (PSU) and subsystem-level (processor, memory, I/O, storage, and fan) monitoring. NodeManager also provides sampling rates up to ten samples per second to improve accuracy of averaging
and to enable faster response to extreme power transients.

PowerEdge power monitoring capabilities

Power monitoring accuracy on PowerEdge servers exceeds the EPA’s ENERGY STAR® certification
requirements by 87%, and rivals many external high-cost power meters.

System-level power monitoring accuracy

Thermal monitoring capabilities include exhaust, power control unit (PCU), memory and additional
component temperatures such as hard drives and PCIe adapters. The additional thermal monitoring
provides pinpoint temperature information to the thermal algorithm for finely tuned control of thesystem thermals.

9Power and Cooling Innovations in Dell PowerEdge Servers

ControlEnhanced power control features designed into PowerEdge servers target power-capping, power
efficiency, IDLE power, and deployment simplification.
In addition to rich power monitoring capabilities, Dell’s custom version of Intel’s Node Manager
provides sophisticated power capping capabilities to support various data center and platform usage
models. Fast and intelligent, the Node Manager power-capping solution limits power utilization below
the user-defined limit within one second, while optimizing performance within the power constraints.
With PowerEdge servers, you can use power capping to limit server power consumption due to data
center or rack electrical or thermal limitations. Examples of other usage models include:
•
•
•
•
•

Control peak power usage during a defined time period to control billing rates
Provisioning power to workloads based on an SLA that does not require fully configured
capability
Power cap due to power utilities mandating brownout energy consumption reduction
Limiting power due to extreme outside temperature that limits the data center’s coolingcapability
Power cap to protect the data center against power and thermal excursions (such as HVAC
failure)Dell’s OpenManage Power Center provides a one-to-many power management console that can beused to set group-level (rack, aisle, data center) power cap policies. This console provides a simple
interface for managing the power consumption of PowerEdge servers in the data center.
The iDRAC8 Enterprise license is required for power capping through the iDRAC8 GUI or OpenManage
Power Center.
Power Supply Maximum Input PowerPower Cap Upper Bound

Heavy Workload

Heavy Workload
Power Cap Enabled

Input Power (Watts)

Recommended
Power Cap
Range
Short Excursion (<1s)

User Defined Power Cap

Heavy Workload
Power Capped toUser Defined Limit

Power Cap Lower Bound

Heavy Workload
Performance ImpactedPower Capped toUser Defined Limit
Medium Workload

Power Monitoring Reading

Light Workload

No Performance Impact
TimePower capping example

10Power and Cooling Innovations in Dell PowerEdge Servers

Power Cap DisabledDell’s PSU right-sizing strategy to improve power efficiency and reduce costs greatly benefits from aPowerEdge server feature called Extended Power Range (EPR) which temporarily extends the output
capability of the power supply. Under typical workloads, power consumption is well below the output
capability of the PSU, but if the workload spikes power beyond the PSU capability, ultra-fast hardware
protection power cap policies are triggered to reduce power consumption. Extended Power Range
allows richer system configurations to be supported within the power constraints of a smaller PSU.

EPR example with redundant (1+1) PSU configuration

The PSU feature Hot Spare improves the operating efficiency of redundant PSU configurations for light totypical workloads by putting one of the PSUs in sleep state. At higher loads, the sleeping PSU
autonomously wakes to optimize operating efficiency. Visit the Dell Power and Cooling Technologies
page 2 to view a video demo of this feature. Figure 8 highlights the hot spare reduction in PSU power
dissipation.

2 Dell Power and Cooling Technologies: http://www.dell.com/en-us/work/learn/power-and-cooling-technologies

11Power and Cooling Innovations in Dell PowerEdge Servers

PSU hot spare—redundant PSU power dissipation

Dell’s Active Power Controller (DAPC), which provides OS-independent processor power management,
has been fine-tuned for next-generation Intel processors. DAPC intelligently manages Intel’s Turbo Boost
feature for a near-linear performance-per-watt response, compared to non-Turbo Boost levels. DAPC
allows workloads to utilize Turbo Boost when needed, providing an optimal balance between
performance and power consumption.
Other control features target IDLE power. DIMM IDLE power is minimized by supporting CKE power
down and self-refresh features. Storage IDLE power is minimized by the Physical Disk PowerManagement feature; Dell hardware RAID controllers will spin down IDLE disks. These IDLE power
controls complement other power delivery efficiencies at light loads and existing IDLE power controls(for example, P-states or C-states).
System Profiles provide “easy buttons” for configuring a server for performance, performance-per-watt,or dense (conservative) configurations that adjust various BIOS performance, power, and RAS settings.
The Dense configuration focuses on prioritizing RAS over performance and power for dense memory
configurations.
Available Thermal Profiles complement the System Profiles by providing options for Performance or
Performance-per-Watt thermal control algorithms. These thermal controls let you set a maximum
exhaust temperature or increase system fan speeds by a fixed offset for additional cooling to I/O slots.

ReportiDRAC8’s power reporting in the iDRAC webserver GUI includes a power cap alert function that alerts
you when a user-defined power cap cannot be maintained. iDRAC8 also allows you to specify a power
cap limit below the recommended range, and lets you know when the platform cannot maintain thespecified limit.

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Power and Cooling Innovations in Dell PowerEdge Servers

iDRAC8 Power Monitoring GUI

OpenManage Power Center provides powerful group-level power reporting capabilities at the rack, aisle
and data center levels. This one-to-many power management console provides a clean, easy-to-use
interface for users to track power consumption throughout the data center. Like iDRAC8, Power Center
provides an alert function when a group-level power cap cannot be maintained. iDRAC8 Express
provides power monitoring capabilities for the iDRAC8 GUI and OpenManage Power Center. An iDRAC8Enterprise license is required for power capping in the iDRAC8 GUI or in OpenManage Power Center.

13Power and Cooling Innovations in Dell PowerEdge Servers

OpenManage Power Center power monitoring GUI

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Power and Cooling Innovations in Dell PowerEdge Servers

Additional Information
For additional details and information, see the following documents and resources available on Dell.com:
•
•
•
•
•
•

“Power Consumption Reduction: Hot Spare”“Power Consumption Reduction: High Efficiency Power Supplies”“Increasing Energy Efficiency through Modular Infrastructure”
Dell.com/PowerandCooling
Dell.com/PowerCenter
Dell.com/FreshAir

About the Authors
John Jenne is a Distinguished Engineer in the Dell Enterprise Product Group focused on Node Power acrossthe Dell Server portfolio. John has previously held positions with Compaq, MaXXan Systems, and Newisys. He
has a B.S. in Computer Engineering from Clemson University, an M.S.E.E. from the University of Houston, andcurrently holds 16 patents.
Craig Klein is a Principle Engineer in the Dell Enterprise Product Group working on Node Power across the Dell
Server portfolio. Craig has previously held positions with IBM, and Jabil Circuit. He has a B.S. in ElectricalEngineering from Texas A&M University, and currently holds 148 patents.

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Power and Cooling Innovations in Dell PowerEdge Servers