ENERGY STAR Servers:
Version 2.0
Final Draft Webinar

January 31, 2013
Robert Meyers, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Bryan Berringer, U.S. Department of Energy1AgendaTopic
Introduction / Meeting Goals
Definitions
Power Supply and Blade/Multi-node Requirements
Active State Efficiency Criteria
Idle State Efficiency Criteria
Revised APA and PPDS Requirements
Revised Sampling and Testing Requirements
Test Method Updates
Timeline and Closing Questions

2

AgendaTopic
Introduction / Meeting Goals
Definitions
Power Supply and Blade/Multi-node Requirements
Active State Efficiency Criteria
Idle State Efficiency CriteriaRevised APA and PPDS Requirements
Revised Sampling and Testing Requirements
Test Method Updates
Timeline and Closing Questions

3

Meeting Introduction• EPA thanks all stakeholders who haveparticipated thus far in the development of theENERGY STAR specification for Computer
Servers– Stakeholder participation is critical to thespecification development– EPA looks forward to finalizing the specification
based on stakeholder feedback

4

EPA-DOE ENERGY STAR Team
EPA: Brand andSpecification Manager

DOE: Test ProcedureManager•••••• Federal Test Procedures• Metrics• Monitoring & Verification

New Products
Performance Levels
Marketing & OutreachMonitoring & Verification
Product DatabasePresenters• Robert Meyers – EPA• John Clinger – ICF International• Akshay Odugoudar – Navigant Consulting Inc.
5

Webinar Goals
1. Overview of revisions to the specification andtest method following stakeholder comments
2. Opportunity for questions and comments withthe goal of resolving all outstanding issues
Note: All slides will be posted to the ENERGYSTAR Computer Servers website

6AgendaTopic
Introduction / Meeting Goals
Definitions
Power Supply and Blade/Multi-node Requirements
Active State Efficiency Criteria
Idle State Efficiency Criteria
Revised APA and PPDS Requirements
Revised Testing Requirements
Test Method Updates
Timeline and Closing Questions

7Definitions• New– Buffered DDR Channel• Revised– High Performance Computing Systems (HPC)– Auxiliary Processing Accelerator (APA)

8

New Definition• Buffered DDR Channel– Added to provide definition of a new adder in Table 4.
Applicable to resilient servers only.

9

Revised Definitions• High Performance Computing Systems (HPC)– Based on stakeholder feedback, EPA has revised thelanguage in requirement 8a in this definition toprovide a clearer distinction between highperformance computing and high performancecomputers.

• Auxiliary Processing Accelerator (APA)– Moved from Section 3.9 to the definitions section ofthe specification for consistency.
– Definition will remain general to accommodate variedimplementations
10

AgendaTopic
Introduction / Meeting Goals
Definitions
Power Supply and Blade/Multi-node Requirements
Active State Efficiency Criteria
Idle State Efficiency Criteria
Revised APA and PPDS Requirements
Revised Sampling and Testing Requirements
Test Method Updates
Timeline and Closing Questions

11

Power Supply Requirements• EPA has removed Dc-Dc requirements from
Table 1 and Table 2 in the specification as there
is currently no procedure to test dc computer
servers in the Version 2.0 Computer Servers
Test Method.
• EPA and DOE will revisit including Dc-Dc
computer servers in the Version 3.0 specification
revision process.

12

Blade and Multi-Node SystemCriteria• EPA has clarified that multi-node servers are
subject to the same qualification criteria as blade
servers in Section 3.4 in the Final Draft.

13

AgendaTopic
Introduction / Meeting Goals
Definitions
Power Supply and Blade/Multi-node Requirements
Active State Efficiency Criteria
Idle State Efficiency Criteria
Revised APA and PPDS Requirements
Revised Sampling and Testing Requirements
Test Method Updates
Timeline and Closing Questions

14

Active State Efficiency Criteria
EPA has decided that there will be a 9 month period oftime after Version 2.0 is published in which SERT datasubmitted to EPA will be published anonymously.
This period will provide a window for EPA andstakeholders to evaluate SERT results before
presenting them to the consumer at the effective date.
After 9 months, all SERT test data for ENERGY STAR
certified computer servers will be made public andattached to the corresponding products tested.
15

AgendaTopicIntroduction / Meeting Goals
Definitions
Power Supply and Blade/Multi-node Requirements
Active State Efficiency Criteria
Idle State Efficiency Criteria
Revised APA and PPDS Requirements
Revised Sampling and Testing Requirements
Test Method Updates
Timeline and Closing Questions

16

Idle State Efficiency Criteria – 1Sand 2S Servers• EPA has removed Full Load efficiency criteria anddata disclosure– Covered by SERT in Version 2.0.

• EPA is requiring that Idle State data used forcertification purposes continues to be measured
using the manual idle measurement procedures as
defined in Section 6.1 of the ENERGY STAR
Computer Servers Test Method Draft Final (Rev.
Jan-2013).
– Based on stakeholder concerns about the potential impact
on idle state measurement values when idle is measured
in a “cold” system prior to exposure to heavy workloads
versus when tested in a “warm” system where the fanpower consumption may be higher.
17

Idle State Efficiency Criteria – 1S
and 2S Servers• EPA has clarified that the Additional I/O Device
allowance may be applied to interfaces beyondEthernet.
– Ethernet (including subsets such as FoE and iSCSI)– SAS– SATA
– Fibre Channel– Infiniband– Must meet requirements viii and ix in Section 3.6.1.

18

Idle State Efficiency Criteria – 1S
and 2S Servers• EPA has included a Resilient category in Table 3 basedon stakeholder provided data and additional internalanalysis.
• Only applicable to computer server products that meetall of the requirements in the Resilient Server Definition
found in Appendix B of the Eligibility Criteria.

19

Idle State Efficiency Criteria – 1S
and 2S Servers• Buffered DDR Channel adder– Necessary to allow highly configured two socket
resilient server configurations to be assessed fairly forcertification.
– Based on stakeholder provided data and additional
internal investigation– Proposing a 4.0 watt per Buffered DDR Channel
adder for every installed channel greater than 8.

20

Idle State Efficiency Criteria –Blade Servers• Blade server testing– System with asymmetric power domains shall round
up to the nearest power domain as decided by themanufacturer when adhering to the half-populatedBlade Chassis testing requirement. The number ofblades tested during the half-chassis test shall bereported in the PPDS.

• Manufacturers are still free to test fully populated
blade chassis, in addition to half chassis, if theywish to provide this information to purchasers.
21

Idle State Efficiency Criteria –Multi-Node Servers• EPA has added a new section to clarify Idle
State efficiency criteria specifically for multi-nodeservers in this Final Draft.
• The multi-node server criteria are similar to
blade server criteria, but require that the multinode servers be tested with a fully-populatedchassis.

22AgendaTopicIntroduction / Meeting Goals
Definitions
Power Supply and Blade/Multi-node Requirements
Active State Efficiency Criteria
Idle State Efficiency Criteria
Revised APA and PPDS Requirements
Revised Sampling and Testing Requirements
Test Method Updates
Timeline and Closing Questions

23

Revised APA Requirements• Maximum idle power of 46 watts per APA
shipped with a qualified configuration.
• Idle State power consumption of each APA soldwith a qualified configuration shall be reported inthe PPDS.
• APA testing requirements apply to all computer
servers, including Blade and Multi-node servers.
• Tests with APAs should be conducted on themaximum configuration of the product family.
24Power and Performance Data Sheet• EPA thanks stakeholders for their comments on
the draft PPDS template released with Draft 3.
• Based on stakeholder responses, EPA proposesthat manufacturers report the air inlet
temperature of the SUT at three times:– When the system is off prior to the start of testing– At the conclusion of the manual idle state test
– At the conclusion of the active state testing.
– These values will be reported in the thermal results
section of the PPDS.
25

AgendaTopicIntroduction / Meeting Goals
Definitions
Power Supply and Blade/Multi-node Requirements
Active State Efficiency Criteria
Idle State Efficiency Criteria
Revised APA and PPDS Requirements
Revised Sampling and Testing Requirements
Test Method Updates
Timeline and Closing Questions

26

Sampling Requirements• EPA has revised the language in Section 5.4.
• The technical requirements and intent of thelanguage remain the same. All changes areintended to improve clarity.

27

Testing Requirements• EPA received stakeholder feedback on
computer server products which can onlyfunction with one processor but use two sockethardware.
• EPA is proposing to test these systems with one
socket populated but require them to meet thetwo socket idle state power allowance.

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AgendaTopicIntroduction / Meeting Goals
Definitions
Power Supply and Blade/Multi-node Requirements
Active State Efficiency Criteria
Idle State Efficiency Criteria
Revised APA and PPDS Requirements
Revised Sampling and Testing Requirements
Test Method Updates
Timeline and Closing Questions

29

Test Method Updates• Final Draft Test Method includes four updates– Active state testing using SERT– Longer idle state testing– Three-phase voltage and frequency added– Multi-node server configuration30

Update 1
Active State Testing Using SERT• Active state server testing and reporting using
Server Efficiency Rating Tool (SERT)• Test Setup and Test Conduct Sections modified
to be consistent with SERT requirements• Includes list of SERT result files to be reported

31

Update 2
Longer Idle State Testing• Increased Idle state test period from 5 minutes
to 30 minutes– Captures the effect of any maintenance cycles
initiated by the server– Longer measurement periods average out the effectof these maintenance cycles

32Update 2
Longer Idle State Testing
EXAMPLE ONLY
Rated Idle State Power: 142 watts

Case 1

Maintenance Cycle: 180 watts

Test CaseMeasurement
Time (minutes)

Average Idle
Power (W)

% Increase
From RatedIdle

Case 15167

18%Case 230

1463%

Case 330

1506%

Case 2

Case 333

Update 3
Three-phase voltage & frequency• 208 V ac, 60 Hz three-phase requirements
added– Common three-phase voltage and frequency in theU.S.

• SERT supports three-phase servers testing34

Update 4
Multi-node servers configuration• Multi-node servers shall be tested in the fullchassis configuration– Consistent with qualification requirements– Typically purchased and deployed in full chassis
configuration

35

SummaryTopicDraft 3

Final Draft

Active State test tool

Manufacturer Discretion

SERT

Idle State measurement
period5 minutes

30 minutes

Three phase power
requirements

None

208 V ac 60 Hz

Multi-node system
configuration

None

Full chassis

36

AgendaTopic
Introduction / Meeting Goals
Definitions
Power Supply and Blade/Multi-node Requirements
Active State Efficiency Criteria
Idle State Efficiency CriteriaRevised APA and PPDS Requirements
Revised Sampling and Testing Requirements
Test Method Updates
Timeline and Closing Questions

37

TimelineTopicTime Frame

Final Draft Distributed

January 9, 2013

End of Final Draft Comment Period

January 25, 2013

Stakeholder Webinar

January 31, 2013

Final Specification PublishedFebruary 20, 2013

Version 2.0 Information Session

First week in March – exact date TBDSERT Data Review

Late Q3

Effective Date

November 20, 201338

Open Comment• EPA would now like to open the line for anycomments.

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Thank you!
RJ Meyers
EPA, ENERGY STAR(202) 343-9923Meyers.Robert@epa.gov
John Clinger
ICF International(215) 967-9407
John.Clinger@icfi.com
Emmy Phelan
ICF International(202) 862-1145
Emmy.Phelan@icfi.com

Bryan Berringer
DOE, ENERGY STAR(202) 586-0371
Bryan.Berringer@ee.doe.gov

Al Thomason
TBWC, LLC
(503) 708-7881
thomasonw@gmail.com

Akshay Odugoudar
Navigant Consulting(703) 734-7512
Akshay.odugoudar@navig
ant.com
Allen Tsao
Navigant Consulting(202) 481-8357
Allen.Tsao@navigant.com
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