Energy Efficiency in Data Centers through Servers Modeling and Management

Abstract

In the last few years, we could notice a remarkable increase in the demand for Internet services. At the same time, we also observe a growing accessibility both in availability, with some cities promoting free wireless access on the streets, and in capability, with a plethora of portable and non-portable devices effectively using Internet services. Such services are usually made available in the so-called data centers, which are facilities where IT equipments are stored and inter-connected through a high-speed network. Recent studies reveal an average power density of around 10kW per rack, making the costs related to the electric supply surpass the costs related to the IT equipments or even the facility space. This document presents a project proposal whose goal is modeling the power consumption of Web servers, which represent a significant portion of the servers installed in data centers worldwide. Such modeling will take into account the data center structure in both the number of racks and servers per rack, resulting in a holistic view of power consumption in data centers. Moreover, this project includes the conception of power management methods exploiting dynamic frequency and voltage scaling (DVFS) techniques. These methods will focus on adapting the computational effort according to the experienced workload so as to reduce the power consumption, however, without incurring a significant impact on the quality-of-service (QoS).