Patent ID: 8910169

Claim:
A computer-implemented method, comprising: virtualizing physical resources of a computer system with respect to an operating environment and a service environment of the computer system; assigning a first one of the physical resources to the operating environment and a second one of the physical resources to the service environment; switching between the operating environment and the service environment to access the first physical resource in the operating environment and to access the second physical resource in the service environment; determining to perform a service task in a power saving mode of the computer system and, based on the determination, re-assigning the first physical resource from the operating environment to the service environment, placing a first set of physical resources in a reduced power consumption state, and performing the service task in the service environment with a second set of physical resources while the first set of physical resources is in the reduced power consumption state, wherein the second set of physical resources includes the first and second physical resources and at least a portion of a processor environment.