Patent ID: 8006112

Claim:
A method for managing resources in a system including a plurality of power supply units configured to supply power to a plurality of resources, the method comprising: in response to a failure of a particular power supply unit, determining whether a reduced power capacity of the non-failed power supply units is sufficient to provide an aggregate minimum power requirement of the resources, wherein determining whether the reduced power capacity is sufficient to provide the aggregate minimum power requirement comprises: determining a reclaimable power for the resources based at least on the power allocated and the aggregate minimum power requirement; determining an excess power capacity for the plurality of power supply units; and determining whether the sum of the reclaimable power and the excess power capacity is less than a power capacity of the particular power supply unit; and if the reduced power capacity of the non-failed power supply units is not sufficient to provide the aggregate minimum power requirement of the resources: powering down a low-priority resource; and not powering down a second resource having a higher priority than the low-priority resource.