Saving power by managing the state of inactive computing devices according to specific constraints

摘要

A system method and computer program product for managing readiness states of a plurality of computing devices. In response to a request, a computer system operates to either: provide one or more computing devices from an inactive pool to an active pool, or accept one or more active computing devices into the inactive pool. An Inactive Pool Manager proactively manages the inactive states of each computing device by: determining the desired number (and identities) of computing devices to be placed in each inactive state of readiness by solving a constraint optimization problem that describes a user-specified trade-off between expected readiness (estimated time to be able to activate computing devices when they are needed next) and conserving energy; generating a plan for changing the current set of inactive states to the desired set; and, executing the plan. Multiple alternative ways of quantifying the desired responsiveness to surges in demand are provided.

主权项

1. A system for managing inactive states of computing devices comprising:
a memory, a processor unit in communication with said memory, for performing a method comprising:
receiving, at said processor unit, a request to one of: activate or deactivate one or more computing devices from a respective group of inactive or active computing devices, each said inactive or active computing device initially in a pre-determined state of readiness;activating or deactivating said one or more computing devices, said activating or deactivating resulting in a number of computing devices in one or more activation states of readiness i;computing an optimal configuration of said computing devices in said one or more said states of readiness i by minimizing an expected power consumption Σi Ai Pi where i represents all inactive computing device states, Ai represents a number of said computing devices currently in each state i, and, Pi represents an average power consumption of computing devices while in said state i; andplacing said computing devices in said optimized configuration, said processor unit is further configured to:formulate an objective function to be minimized, said objective function representing said expected power consumption Σi AiPi subject to a constraint,wherein, after one of said activating or deactivating one or more computing devices, said processor unit is further configured to:compute activation vector A″ representing a number of computing devices in said optimized one or more activation states of readiness i;specify an upper threshold Tmax representing a maximum expected time to activate additional computing devices; andcompute probabilities pi for i additional computing devices to be needed, where i ranges from 1 to a specified upper threshold, wherein said activation vector A″ is computed by formulating said objective function to minimize an expected power consumption Σi A″i Pi given a constraint ΣiRipi