Patent ID: 8375228

Claim:
A method for managing power utilization of a multiple-node system having a plurality of nodes, comprising: in response to determining that a node power cap of a selected node of the plurality of nodes is to be increased, the node power cap of the selected node specifying a maximum power that the selected node is able to individually utilize, where a total of node power caps of all the nodes of the multiple-node system is equal to a system-wide power cap, the system-wide power cap specifying a maximum power that multiple-node system is able to utilize overall, the node power cap of each node specifying a maximum power that the node is able to individually utilize, reducing the node power caps of one or more nodes of the plurality of nodes so that the total of the node power caps of all the nodes of the multiple-node system is less than the system-wide power cap; and, increasing the node power cap of the selected node such that the total of the node power caps of all the nodes is equal to or less than the system-wide power cap, wherein reducing the node power caps of the one or more nodes of the plurality of nodes so that the total of the node power caps of all the nodes of the multiple-node system is less than the system-wide power cap comprises: selecting each of the one or more nodes of which the node power caps are to be reduced, by selecting a given node of the multiple-node system based on power usage history of the given node, the power usage history of the given node indicating that the given node has historically used less power than permitted by the node power cap of the given node.