Patent Publication Number: US-2020285301-A1

Title: Server system, server device and power management method for server device

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 108107667, filed on Mar. 7, 2019. The entirety of the above-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to a power management technique of an electronic apparatus, and particularly relates to a server system, a server device, and a power management method for the server device. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     In the technology of data center architecture, it is common to design a large rack to accommodate a plurality of servers, and the servers share the same power supply in the rack. Owing to the power management mechanism of the server, the server usually has a built-in power consumption upper limit set in advance to limit the maximum power consumption of the server. When the server needs power exceeding the watts set in the power consumption upper limit, the power management mechanism (e.g., a power capping mechanism) of the server may automatically underclock the relevant hardware components to prevent the consumed power from exceeding the preset watts, thereby preventing the server from excessively consuming power which may result in overload of the power supply or relevant components (e.g., a power supply system). 
     While such a power management mechanism protects the power supply, the power management mechanism also limits the operating performance of the server. In other words, the server is not allowed to request more power to satisfy the needs for operating at a high power. Moreover, when some servers do not require the power as high as the power consumption upper limit, the excess power cannot be shared with other servers in the rack. Therefore, the power of the power supply or the power supply system is not used efficiently. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The embodiments of the invention provide a server system, a server device, and a power management method for the server device. The server device may transmit the information that the server device has excess power resources to other server devices, and a server device requiring more power may raise a preset power consumption upper limit of the server device by exploiting the excess power resources, thereby using a power supply or a power supply system more effectively. 
     A server system according to an embodiment of the invention includes a first server device, at least one second server device, and a power supply. The first server device has a first preset power consumption upper limit. The at least one second server device communicates with the first server device. The power supply supplies power of a total power consumption value to the first server device and the second server device. The first server device obtains current power consumption information respectively transmitted by the second server device to calculate a current total power consumption value of the server system. The first server device determines whether it is necessary to raise the first preset power consumption upper limit to a second preset power consumption upper limit according to the current total power consumption value and an operation of the first server device, and determines whether the power supply has excess power according to the current total power consumption value and the total power consumption value of the power supply. The first server device raises the first preset power consumption upper limit to the second preset power consumption upper limit in response to a determination that it is necessary to raise the preset power consumption upper limit and a determination that the power supply has the excess power. 
     A server device according to an embodiment of the invention includes a sensor, a transmitter, a receiver, and a controller. The sensor is configured to sense power consumption of the server device to generate current power consumption information of the server device. The transmitter is coupled to the sensor. The transmitter transmits the current power consumption information to at least one other server device. The receiver obtains the current power consumption information respectively transmitted from the at least one other server device. The controller is coupled to the receiver. The controller obtains the current power consumption information of the at least one other server device through the receiver, and calculates a current total power consumption value of a server system in which the server device is arranged. The controller determines whether it is necessary to raise a first preset power consumption upper limit in the server device to a second preset power consumption upper limit according to the current total power consumption value and an operation of the server device, and determines whether a power supply in the server system has excess power according to the current total power consumption value and a total power consumption value of the power supply. The controller raises the first preset power consumption upper limit to the second preset power consumption upper limit in response to a determination that it is necessary to raise the first preset power consumption upper limit and a determination that the power supply has the excess power. 
     A power management method for a server device according to an embodiment of the invention includes the following: obtaining current power consumption information of at least one other server device and the server device; calculating a current total power consumption value of a server system in which the server device is arranged according to the current power consumption information of the at least one other server device and the server device; determining whether it is necessary to raise a first preset power consumption upper limit in the server device to a second preset power consumption upper limit according to the current total power consumption value and an operation of the server device, and determining whether a power supply in the server system has excess power according to a total power consumption value of the power supply and the current total power consumption value; and raising the first preset power consumption upper limit to the second preset power consumption upper limit in response to a determination that it is necessary to raise the first preset power consumption upper limit and a determination that the power supply has the excess power. 
     Based on the above, the server system, the server device, and the power management method for the server device according to the embodiments of the invention allow the server devices to communicate with each other to notify at least one other server device that there is excessive power available, and each server device may determine on its own whether it is necessary to raise the power consumption upper limit of the server device according to the information about the power resources. In this way, a server device requiring more power is able to exploit the excess power resources and raise the preset power consumption upper limit of the server device, and at least one other server device may also correspondingly lower their preset power consumption upper limit to meet the total power consumption of the power supply system in the server system, so as to more effectively use the power supply or the power supply system. 
     In order to make the aforementioned and other features and advantages of the invention comprehensible, several exemplary embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic view illustrating a server system according to an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a functional block diagram of a server device of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a flowchart illustrating a power management method for a server device according to an embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     Reference will now be made in detail to the present preferred embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts. 
       FIG. 1  is a schematic view illustrating a server system  100  according to an embodiment of the invention. The server system  100  may be a rack server, and may include a plurality of server devices  110 - 1  to  110 - 3  and a power supply  120 . For the ease of description, an example is described herein with three server devices  110 - 1  to  110 - 3 . However, those utilizing the embodiment may adjust the number of the server devices in the server system  100  according to their needs, and the server system  100  of the embodiment requires at least two servers to be realized. The server devices  110 - 1  to  110 - 3  may be blade servers, for example. In addition, in the embodiment, the server device  110 - 1  is referred to as a first server device, and the server devices  110 - 2  to  110 - 3  are referred to as second server devices. 
     The power supply  120  may be a rack power supply or a power supply system and is configured to supply power to the entire server system  100 . In other words, the power supply  120  supplies power of the total power consumption value of the entire server system  100  to the first server device  110 - 1  and the second server devices  110 - 2  to  110 - 3 . The power supply  120  is externally connected to the grid or an external facility power source, and coverts the power into a voltage suitable for the servers  110 - 1  to  110 - 3 . 
     For example, if the total power consumption value that the power supply  120  is able to supply is 2400 watts, the preset power consumption upper limit of each of the server devices  110 - 1  to  110 - 3  may be set at 800 watts. In this way, when each of the server devices  110 - 1  to  110 - 3  is operated at 800 watts, the power supply  120  may maintain normal operation. Meanwhile, if the server devices  110 - 2  to  110 - 3  both have excess power resources for exploitation of other server devices, a server device (e.g., the server device  110 - 1 ) requiring more power according to the embodiment of the invention may make use of the excess power resources and raise its preset power consumption upper limit, such as raising the preset power consumption upper limit from 800 watts to 900 watts, so that the server system  100  perform to a full extent. The other two server devices  110 - 2  to  110 - 3  also lower their preset power consumption upper limits from 800 watts to 750 watts, so as to relocate the excess power resources for exploitation of the server device  110 - 1 . In other words, in the embodiment, each of the server devices  110 - 1  to  110 - 3  is able to adjust its preset power consumption upper limit according to its own operating requirements, and other server devices also correspondingly lower their preset power consumption upper limits, so that the server system  100  can be used more effectively under the condition of meeting the total power consumption of the power supply  120 . 
     The server devices  110 - 1  to  110 - 3  of the embodiment have the same structure. Here, the server device  110 - 1  is described as an example.  FIG. 2  is a functional block diagram of the server device  110 - 1  of  FIG. 1 . The server device  110 - 1  mainly includes a sensor  210 , a transmitter  220 , a receiver  230 , and a controller  240 . The receiver  230  and the transmitter  220  may also be referred to as a network transmission apparatus  215 . The controller  240  may be a board management controller. The server device  110  may further include an element  250  that is operating and consuming power. The element  250  may be various components in the server device  110 - 1 , such as a central processing unit, the network transmission apparatus  215  (e.g., the transmitter  220  and the receiver  230 ), the board management controller (i.e., the controller  240 ), etc. The sensor  210  is configured to sense the total power consumption of the server device  110 - 1  to generate the current power consumption information of the server device  110 - 1 . The sensor  210  of the embodiment may be respectively disposed at the location where power is supplied to each element  250  in the server device  110 - 1 , so as to detect the power consumption of each element  250  as the power consumption information, and the transmitter  220  or the controller  240  may sum up the power consumption information to serve as the current power consumption information of the server device  110 - 1 . In some embodiments, the sensor  210  may also be disposed at a power input end PN of the server device  110 - 1  that is connected to the power supply  120 , so as to detect and generate the current power consumption information of the entire server device  110 - 1 . 
     Here, the respective elements (e.g., the sensor  210 , the transmitter  220 , the receiver  230 , and the controller  240 ) of the server device  110 - 1  shown in  FIG. 2  are used to describe the respective steps of a power management method for a server device disclosed in  FIG. 3 .  FIG. 3  is a flowchart illustrating a power management method for the server device  110 - 1  according to an embodiment of the invention. Those utilizing the embodiment may apply the power management method shown in  FIG. 3  to any of the server devices  110 - 1  to  110 - 3  in the server system  100  shown in  FIG. 1 , and the power management method is not limited to the server device  110 - 1 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 3 , the transmitter  220  is coupled to the sensor  210  to transmit the current power consumption of the entire server device  110 - 1  to at least one other server device (i.e., other server devices  110 - 2  to  110 - 3 ) other than the server device  110 - 1 . Specifically, the network transmission apparatus  215  of  FIG. 2  is connected to a network  260  formed by the server devices  110 - 1  to  110 - 3  of  FIG. 1 . At Step S 310 , the controller  240  controls the transmitter  220  to share the current power consumption information of the server device  110 - 1  generated by the sensor  210  to the receivers of the at least one other server device (e.g., the server devices  110 - 2  to  110 - 3  shown in  FIG. 1 ) through network broadcasting via the network  260 . At Step S 320 , the controller  240  determines whether a time interval (e.g., 3 seconds, 4 seconds, 5 seconds, etc., based on needs) has passed by, and performs Step S 310  again when the time interval has passed by, so as to continuously share the current power consumption information of the server device  110 - 1  to other server devices  110 - 2  to  110 - 3 . According to relevant embodiments of the invention, depending on the design requirements of those utilizing the embodiments, it may also be that the transmitter  220  shares the current power consumption information of the server device  110 - 1  to other server devices without going through the controller  240  (Step S 310 ), and the transmitter  220  may determine on its own whether the time interval has passed by (Step S 320 ) to perform Step S 310  again, so as to alleviate the computational load of the controller  240 . 
     The controller  240  is coupled to the receiver  230 . At Step S 330 , the receiver  230  obtains the current power consumption information respectively transmitted from other server devices  110 - 2  to  110 - 3  to the server device  110 - 1 , and provides the current power consumption information of the server devices  110 - 2  to  110 - 3  to the controller  240 . The controller  240  obtains the current power consumption information of other server devices  110 - 2  to  110 - 3 . At Step S 340 , the controller  240  obtains the current power consumption information of the server device  110 - 1  from the sensor  210 . Accordingly, through Steps S 330  to S 340 , the controller  240  can obtain the respective current power consumption information of all the server devices  110 - 1  to  110 - 3  in the server system  100 . 
     At Step S 350 , the controller  240  calculates a current total power consumption value PSUtp of the server system  100  in which the server device  110 - 1  is arranged according to the current power consumption information of all the server devices  110 - 1  to  110 - 3 . For example, assuming that the server system  100  has n server devices, n being a positive integer greater than or equal to 2, and the current power consumption of each server device indicates that the current power consumption of each server device is Pn, the controller  240  may sum up the current power consumption of each server device to calculate the current total power consumption value PSUtp of the server system  100 . In other words, the current total power consumption value PSUtp of the server system  100  is P 1 +P 2 + . . . Pn. Besides, the controller  240  may further calculate a current power utilization rate of the power supply  120  in  FIG. 1  according to the current total power consumption value PSUtp as the reference for determining whether the power supply  120  has excess power resources. For example, the value derived by dividing the current total power consumption value PSUtp by the total power consumption value (2400 watts) of the power supply  120  is the current power utilization rate of the power supply  120 . 
     At Step S 360 , the controller  240  determines whether it is necessary to raise a first preset power consumption upper limit (e.g., 800 watts) of the server device  110 - 1  to a second preset power consumption upper limit (e.g., 900 watts) according to the current total power consumption value PSUtp and the operation of the server device  110 - 1 . Specifically, if the current power consumption of the server device  110 - 1  has reached or exceeded the first preset power consumption upper limit, the server  110 - 1  is throttling and the controller  240  needs more power resources. Therefore, if the current power consumption of the server device  110 - 1  has reached or exceeded the first preset power consumption upper limit, the determination at Step S 360  is “YES”, and the flow proceeds to Step S 370 . Comparatively, if the current power consumption of the server device  110 - 1  is less than the first preset power consumption upper limit, the determination at Step S 360  is “NO”, and the flow returns to Step S 330 . 
     At Step S 370 , the controller  240  determines whether the power supply  120  has excess power according to the current total power consumption value PSUtp of the server system  100  and the total power consumption value (e.g., 2400 watts) of the power supply  120 . The controller  240  may resort to various ways to determine whether the power supply  120  has excess power, such as making a determination according to the current power utilization rate of the power supply  120 , or making a determination on whether the server system  100  still has excess power resources according to the remainder obtained by subtracting the current total power consumption value PSUtp of the server system  100  from the total power consumption value of the power supply  120 . 
     When it is determined that it is necessary to raise the first preset power consumption upper limit of the server device  110 - 1  and it is determined that the power supply  120  has excess power resources, at Step S 380 , the controller  240  may raise the first preset power consumption upper limit (e.g., 800 watts) to the second preset power consumption upper limit (e.g., 900 watts). 
     In the embodiment, in order to prevent the server devices  110 - 1  to  110 - 3  from raising the power consumption upper limits on their own and exceeding of the power resource supply upper limit of the power supply  120 , one or more of the second server devices  110 - 2  to  110 - 3  may lower its/their preset power consumption upper limits according to its/their operation modes before the server device  110 - 1  raises the first preset power consumption upper limit of the server device  110 - 1  to the second preset power consumption upper limit. For example, the controllers in the second server devices  110 - 2  to  110 - 3  may determine whether the second server devices  110 - 2  to  110 - 3  need this much of the power resources according to the operations and the power consumption information of the second server devices  110 - 2  to  110 - 3 , and may lower their power consumption upper limits (e.g., from 800 watts to 750 watts) if the second server devices  110 - 2  to  110 - 3  do not need this much of the power resources. In this way, each of the second server devices  110 - 2  to  110 - 3  releases power resources of 50 watts as the excess power of the power supply  120 . Meanwhile, the total of the preset power consumption upper limits of the first server device  110 - 1  and the second server devices  110 - 2  to  110 - 3  of the embodiment does not exceed the total power consumption value of the power supply  120 . 
     In view of the foregoing, the server system, the server device, and the power management method for the server device according to the embodiments of the invention allow the server devices to communicate with each other to notify other server devices that there is excessive power available, and each server device may determine on its own whether it is necessary to raise the power consumption upper limit of the server device according to the information about the power resources. In this way, a server device requiring more power is able to exploit the excess power resources and raise the preset power consumption upper limit of the server device, and other server devices may also correspondingly lower their preset power consumption upper limit to meet the total power consumption of the power supply system in the server system, so as to more effectively use the power supply or the power supply system. 
     It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.