Patent ID: 8677365

Claim:
A method of performing zone-based workload scheduling according to environmental conditions in a system having electronic devices, comprising: aggregating indicators of cooling efficiencies of electronic devices in corresponding zones to form aggregated indicators for respective zones, wherein the zones include respective subsets of electronic devices, wherein the electronic devices are arranged in racks, and wherein each of at least some of the zones includes plural electronic devices, and wherein the system includes at least one sensor in each of the zones; assigning zone-based cooling efficiencies to the electronic devices based on the aggregated indicators, wherein each of the electronic devices is assigned a respective one of the zone-based cooling efficiencies; assigning workload to the electronic devices based on ranking the electronic devices according to the zone-based cooling efficiencies; identifying at least one zone that has become quiescent as a result of the workload assignment; calculating the indicators of cooling efficiencies of electronic devices in the at least one zone based on a temperature measurement of the at least one sensor in the at least one zone; and reducing cooling activity for the at least one zone, the reducing comprising de-allocating the at least one sensor in the at least one zone.