HP BladeSystem Family - Critical Facilities Round Table

The Case for 

BladeSystem 

Servers 

November 2006 

Ken Baker 

BladeSystem Infrastructure Technologist 

mrblade@hp.com 

© 2006 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. 

The information contained herein is subject to change without notice

Proprietary non-disclosure reminder 

• The information contained in this presentation is 

proprietary to Hewlett-Packard Company and is 

offered in confidence, subject to the terms and 

conditions of a Non-Disclosure Agreement 

• HP makes no warranties regarding the accuracy 

of this information. HP does not warrant or 

represent that it will introduce any product to 

which the information relates. It is presented for 

evaluation by the recipient and to assist HP on 

defining product direction 

HP Restricted

Hardware Density Directions 

• Trending up 

− Some relief in the near term 

− Long range forecast (+5yrs) still shows significant 

increases

Power Density and its’ Impact 

• Power Density is increasing on average 15-20% per year 

within the datacenter 

− Individual server power density 

− Recent IT refresh activity 

− Server sprawl 

• Methods of measuring loads within the DC are outdated 

− Watts/sq ft or meter are no longer useful in deciding server 

deployment strategies 

• Increasing power density drives: 

− Server count down in static environments 

− Additional investments in infrastructure for dynamic environments 

• Key to success is balancing infrastructure investments 

with IT goals

Processors 

• Today and near future 

− 55WDC-135WDC 

• 2007 and beyond 

− 40WDC- ~140WDC 

• Power consumption rises will ease over the next 

two years 

− More choices to fit the performance needs into a 

supportable power envelope at the datacenter level 

• Power Management Technologies will 

dramatically improve 

− Dynamically control consumption based upon workload 

demands, rather than system inadequacies

Intel/AMD Processor Power 

Consumption 

’03 ’04 

Dempsey 

DP DC 

65nm 

T case ? ºC 

TDP 130W 

Paxville 

DP DC 

65nm 

T case ? ºC 

TDP 130W 

Watts 

Prestonia 

512K/130nm 

2.8GHz 

Prestonia 

2ML3 

130nm 

3.2 GHz 

T case 71 ºC 

TDP 94W 

Nocona 

1M/90nm 

3.6GHz 

T case 71 ºC 

TDP 103W 

Woodcrest 

4M 

(mobile dual) 

65nm 

TDP 70W 

Clovertown 

quadcore 

65nm 

TDP 130W 

AMD DC- F Series = 95WDC 

Clovertown 

quadcore 

65nm 

TDP 55W 

2005 2006 

533 800 MHz 

2007

Long Term Server Power Density 

Customer use lifecycle 

800 

Mfg lifecycle -Woodcrest 

(70watts) 


Watts/U 

450 


Mfg lifecycle -Nocona 

(104 watts) 

Mfg lifecycle -Dempsey 

(135watts) 


• Typical Server 

Manufacturing lifecycle 

is 2 years 

•Customer production 

lifecycle averages 3-5 

years 

350 

Mfg lifecycle -Prestonia 

(94 watts) 

•Technology Refreshes 

result in gradual power 

density increases of 

15% per year 

2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017

Modern Datacenter Design 

• Raised floor, forced air cooling through perforated panels 

• Power and network wiring may be under floor or overheard 

• Designed for 5-10 year lifecycles 

• A significant percentage of data center costs go to power 

and cooling 

• Cooling efficiencies average between 40-50%

Datacenter Inefficiencies 

• Unmanaged openings 

− Cable openings 

− Perforated tiles in wrong place 

− Wrong type of tile used 

• Increases of up to 15% can be achieved by managing 

openings

Improving Efficiencies Further 

ceiling return air plenum 

critically placed return 

grilles 

Adds another 15% 

improvement in efficiency 

rack blanking panels

Addressing High Density Zones 

• Down flow cooling 

− Efficient 

− Cost effective 

− Tuned for spot loads 

− Dedicated resource 

for high density areas 

• Examples 

− Liebert 

• XDV 

• XDO 

− Ducted Systems

Informational Resources 

• Must Have Documentation 

− Uptime Institute Whitepapers 

• 2005-2010 Heat Density Trends in Data Processing, Computer 

Systems, and Telecommunications 

• Industry Standard Tier Classifications Define Site Infrastructure 

Performance 

• Dollars per kW plus Dollars per Square Foot Are a Better Data Center 

Cost Model than Dollars per Square foot Alone 

• Reducing Bypass Airflow Is Essential for Eliminating Computer Room 

Hot Spots 

− HP Whitepapers 

• Optimizing data centers for high-density computing ,technology brief, 

2nd edition 

− AHSRAE Datacenter Guidelines 

• Thermal Guidelines for Data Processing Environments 

• High Density Cooling of Data Centers and Telecom Facilities -- Part 1 

and 2 

• Datacom Equipment Power Trends and Cooling Applications

Problem: Limited power budget and 

growing power demand 

More performance 

and density 

Draws 

more 

power 

Generates 

more 

heat 

Which eventually 

impacts 

performance, 

reliability, and cost 

Requires 

more 

cooling 


It’s a racked, stacked and wired world 

The root cause of datacenter pain 

The functionality of today’s datacenter is constrained by the form of their building 

blocks and the processes required to manage them 

Inflexible: Static and hardwired 

Manually coordinated: Change requires too 

many people and steps 

Over-provisioned: Wasting power, cooling, 

space, people and money 

Managed 1 by 1: Processes 

are unique, with unique tools 

and inconsistency 

Expensive: More expensive to own than to 

build 

Because of conventional IT’s limited form and processes, the potential to 

improve the operational efficiency, cost and flexibility are limited 

HP Confidential

The HP BladeSystem approach to 

simplify infrastructure 

Consolidate 

Virtualize 

Automate 

Server 

Storage 

Power & 

Cooling 

Connectivity 

LAN 

Facilities 

SAN 

Policy and Task 

• Modularize and integrate 

components 

• Surround with intelligence 

• Manage as one 

• Create logical, abstracted 

connection to LAN/SAN 

• Pool and share server, 

storage, network, and power 

• Simplify routine tasks and 

processes to save time 

• Keep control 

Reduce time and cost to buy, 

build and maintain 

Greater resource 

efficiency and flexibility 

Free IT resources for revenue 

bearing projects 


The Bladed World 

Time-smart, change-ready and cost-savvy system to give you the greatest 

control, most flexibility and best savings for business. 

Provisioned JIT: Pre-provisioned and 

wired-once. Ready for change. 

Automated coordination: Domains and 

people are isolated from the 

upheavals of change 

Virtual: Devices and connections 

managed as pools of resources. 

Lights-Out, ‘1 to n’ management: 

Group management. Processes are 

reduced, streamlined. 

Most efficient: Less expensive to own 

and buy than conventional IT 


c7000 Enclosure 

Front View 

Server blades 

• 2x features, 2x the density 

10U 

8-16 blades 

Storage blades 

• A new paradigm for “bladed” 

storage solutions 

Onboard Administrator 

• HP Insight Display 

• Simple set-up delivered out of the box 

Integrated power 

• Simplified configuration and 

greater efficiency 

• Same flexibility, capacity and 

redundancy 


c7000 Enclosure 

Rear View 

Active Cool fans 

• Adaptive flow for maximum 

power efficiency, air movement 

& acoustics 

Interconnect bays 

• 8 bays; up to 4 redundant I/O fabrics 

• Up to 94% reduction in cables 

• Ethernet, Fibre Channel, iSCSI, SAS, IB 

Onboard Administrator 

• Remote administration view 

• Robust, multi-enclosure control 

PARSEC architecture 

• Parallel, redundant and scalable 

cooling and airflow design 

Power management 

• Choice of single-phase or 3-phase 

enclosures and N+N or N+1 redundancy 

• Best performance per watt 


Processor Naming Decoder - AMD 

AMD Based processors 

Processor Processor Processor Processor Front Side Processor Memory 

Number Type Speed Cores Bus Speed Wattage Cache 

4P Platforms 

8220 Opteron MP 2.8GHz Dual 1GHz 68W, 95W 2M 





880 Opteron MP 2.4GHz Dual 1GHz 68W, 85W, 95W 2M 




856 Opteron MP 3.0GHz Single 1GHz 1M 

854 Opteron MP 2.8GHz Single 1GHz 68W 1M 

852 Opteron MP 2.6GHz Single 1GHz 68W, 95W 1M 

850 Opteron MP 2.4GHz Single 1GHz 95W 1M 

848 Opteron MP 2.2GHz Single 800 95W 1M 




2P Platforms 

2220 Opteron DP 2.8GHz Dual 1GHz 68W, 95W 2M 






285 Opteron DP 2.6GHz Dual 1GHz 68W, 85W, 95W 2M 





256 Opteron DP 3.0GHz Single 1GHz 1M 

254 Opteron DP 2.8GHz Single 1GHz 68W 1M 

252 Opteron DP 2.6GHz Single 1GHz 68W, 95W 1M 

250 Opteron DP 2.4GHz Single 1GHz 95W 1M 

248 Opteron DP 2.2GHz Single 800 95W 1M 




Where used: 

DL585, BL45p, BL685c 

DL585, BL45p, BL685c 

DL585, BL45p, BL685c 

DL585, BL45p, BL685c 

DL585, BL45p, BL685c 

DL585, BL45p 

DL585, BL45p 

DL585, BL45p 

DL585, BL45p 

DL585, BL45p 

DL585, BL45p 

DL585, BL45p 

DL585 

DL585 

DL585 

DL585 

DL585 

BL25p, DL365, DL385, DL145, BL465c 

BL25p, DL365, DL385, DL145, BL465c 

BL25p, DL365, DL385, DL145, BL465c 

BL25p, DL365, DL385, DL145, BL465c 

BL25p, DL365, DL385, DL145, BL465c 

BL25p, DL365, DL385, DL145, BL465c 

BL25p, DL385 

BL25p, BL35p, DL145, DL385 

BL25p, BL35p, DL145, DL385 

BL25p, BL35p, DL145, DL385 

BL25p, BL35p, DL145, DL385 

BL25p, BL35p, DL145 

BL25p, DL145, DL385 

BL25p, DL145, DL385 

BL25p, BL35p, DL145, DL385 

BL35p, DL145 

BL35p, DL145 

BL35p, DL145 

BL35p, DL145

Processor Naming Decoder - Intel 

Intel Based processors 

Processor Processor Processor Processor Front Side Processor Memory 

Number Type Speed Cores Bus Speed Wattage Cache 

4P Platforms 

7140M Tulsa 3.40MHz Dual 800 150W 2X8MB 




7041 Paxville MP 3.00MHz Dual 800 145W 2X2MB 




2P Platforms 

5160 Woodcrest 3.0MHz Dual 1333 65W 2X2MB 







5080 Dempsey 3.73MHz Dual 1066 130W 2X2MB 

5063 Dempsey 3.2MHz MV Dual 1066 130W 2X2MB 



1P Platforms 

X6800 Conroe XE 2.93GHz Dual 800 130W 4MB 

E6700 / 3070 Conroe 2.67GHz Dual 800 130W 4MB 




p960 Presler 3.64GHz Dual 800 130W 2X2MB 







p840 Smithfield 3.2GHz Dual 800 130W 2X1MB 



cm631 Cedar Mill 3.0GHz Single 800 84W 2MB 

p670 Prescott T 3.8GHz Single 800 115W 2MB 





c341 Celeron 2.93GHz Single 400 84W 256K 

c331 Celeron 2.66GHz Single 400 84W 256K 

Where used: 

DL580 & ML570 

DL580 & ML570 

DL580 & ML570 

DL580 & ML570 

DL580 & ML570 

DL580 & ML570 

DL580 & ML570 

DL580 & ML570 

DL380, ML370, DL360, ML350, BL20, ML150, 

DL380, ML370, DL360, ML350, BL20, ML150, 

DL380, DL360 

DL380, ML370, DL360, ML350, BL20, ML150, 

DL380, ML370, DL360, ML350, BL20, ML150, 

DL380, ML370, DL360, ML350, BL20, ML150, 

DL380, ML370, DL360, ML350, BL20, ML150, 

DL380, ML370, DL360, ML350, BL20, ML150 

BL20 

DL380, ML370, DL360, ML350, BL20, ML150 

DL380, ML370, DL360, ML350, BL20, ML150 

Not currently used. 


ML310, ML110, DL320 

ML310, ML110, DL320 

ML310, ML110, DL320 



ML310, ML110, DL320 

ML310, ML110, DL320 

ML310, ML110 

ML310, ML110, DL320 


ML310, ML110, DL320 

ML310, ML110, DL320 

ML310, ML110, DL320 

ML310, ML110 



ML310, ML110 

ML310, ML110 

ML310, ML110 

ML310, DL320 

ML310

The Impact of New Memory Styles 

•Fully Buffered 

DIMM’s 

•Necessary only for 

Intel Platforms today 

•AMD will move to 

FBDIMM by 2008 

•Serialized I/O to save pins 

•Increased power consumption 

•Rises from 5-6 watts to 12-14 watts 

per DIMM

Enclosure Power 

• (1) Single-phase enclosure 

available worldwide for use with inrack 

PDUs which accept C19 – 

C20 power cords; 

C-19 16A 

• (2) Three-Phase enclosure with a 

pair of US/Japan power cords with 

NEMA L15-30P power connectors 

NA/JPN L15-30p 

• (3) Three-Phase enclosure with a 

pair of International power cords 

with IEC 309 16A power 

connectors 

Intl IEC309 5-Pin, 6h, 16A 


Using 32A 3Ø PDU – Intl 

• S332 - AF917A 

• 22 KVA N+N redundant 

power 

• 2 x 32A 3Ø connections 

• 4 c-Class Blade Server 

enclosures 

• Each power enclosure 

contains 6 2250W power 

supplies. 

• 4 8KVA enclosures 

supported by 4 feeds

Power Supply Conversion Efficiency 

• PS conversion efficiency is a function of load and 

$$ 

− higher load= better efficiency 

• 0-50% load = 60% efficient 

• 50-80% = 89-92% efficiency 

− Higher costs = better efficiency 

• +92% efficient = +50% increase in cost 

• Higher native power supply efficiency is not cost 

effective nor necessarily possible 

• Key to better thermal efficiency in power 

subsystems lies with how the power supplies are 

loaded

Greater efficiency and cost savings with 

HP’s BladeSystem 

Rack 

Server 

Rack 

Server 

Rack 

Server 

Rack 

Server 

Rack 

Server 

Rack 

Server 

Rack 

Server 

Rack 

Server 

Typical Rack Servers 

BL 

20p 

BL 

20p 

BL 

20p 

BL 

20p 

BL 

20p 

BL 

20p 

BL 

20p 

BL 

20p 

100% 

90% 

80% 

Power Supply Efficiency 

Blade PSU 

Typical PSU 

70% 

Typical Blade Servers 

Efficiency 

60% 

50% 

40% 

30% 

Dynamic Power Saver 

20% 

10% 

0% 

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% 

Output Load

Power Supply Conversion Efficiency 

• Rack mount vs. Blades 

− 32 server example 

− DL360G5 vs. BL460c, 2.33GHz LV, 2x72GB, 

8GB(1GB) 

DL360G5 

Rack Server 

X 32 = 7424 consumed watts @ 40% utilization 

X 32 = 6664 consumed watts @ 40% utilization 

This value assures Dynamic Power Saver will be on, saving energy

Dynamic Power Saver Operation 

Switch Mode Power Supply 

Input stages are energized at 

when power is applied to the 

circuitry 

Reservoir 

Capacitors 

account for the 

power supply 

inrush current 

As all of the input circuitry remains energized, no 

additional inrush occurs. Further, the low rate of 

switching eliminates any concern for system reliability. 


activates the outputs 

when load of the 

previously activated 

power supplies rise 

above full load for the 

rating of the power 

supply.


3+3 Power Supply Efficiency 


1+1 up to 2250W 2+2 up to 4500W 3+3 up to 6750W 

Power Supply Efficiency 

Typical power 

supply curve 

High efficiency maintained 

from 1150W to 6750 W 

2+2 Not Managed 

3+3 Not Managed 

3+3 Managed 

Typical PSU 

0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000 5500 6000 6500 

Power Supply Output Power (Watts) 


ProLiant Power Regulator: advanced 

power management 

• Monitor and manage individual and groups of servers by 

physical or logical location (power domain) 

• Monitor vital power information 

− power usage in watts 

− BTU/hr output 

− ambient air temperature 

• Policy based management 

− Power cap policy: Set maximum BTU’s/hr or wattage threshold 

(capped on a server by server basis) 

− Temporary conservation policy: Set time of day to drop lower 

selected priority servers into lower power state 

− Severe facilities issue: drop lower priority servers into lower power 

state when severe facilities issue occurs 

− Energy efficiency policy: Set all servers in power domain to 

dynamic power regulating

Power Regulator for ProLiant 

Improve system energy efficiency 

Give CPU’s full power for 

applications when they need it. 

Save when they don’t. 

• Server level, policy based 

power management 

− Dynamic & static control of 

processor power states 

− Unique OS independence 

− Scalable iLO scripting 

• Benefits 

POWER 

COSTS 

− Save up to 18% on power & 

cooling costs with no 

performance loss 

− Increase facility compute 

capacity

Power Regulator for ProLiant Overview 

• Uses new exposed Intel 

and AMD CPU 

performance states 

• Modes 

− Static Low Power 

• Pmin always 

− Dynamic Power Savings 

• Pmin-Pmax switching based 

on application load as 

monitored by ROM 

− Disabled 

• Pmax or OS based power 

management 

Application load = % of total CPU time 

spent processing application data 

P-states 

CPU 

APPLICATION 

LOAD 

STATIC 

LOW 

POWER 

DYNAMIC 

POWER 

SAVINGS 

P-States 

Xeon 3.6 GHz/800 MHz CPU 

Low 

CPU frequency 

Min power 

Min power 

Approx. CPU 

voltage 

Pmax 3.6 GHz 1.4 V 

Pmin 2.8 GHz 1.2 V 

High 

Max 

Power

Power Regulator for ProLiant 

HP Performance Bench Tests 

• In constant Power Saver 

Mode, a DL380 G4 

experienced 

Impact of Power Savings Mode on 

System Power and Performance 

DL380 G4 

− no performance loss up to 

80% CPU utilization and 

− 18% system power savings 

• Most customer systems 

operate well below 80% 

CPU utilization 

Power Reduction (%) 

0% 

-5% 

-10% 

-15% 

-20% 

-25% 

-30% 

Percent CPU Utilization 

0 20 40 60 80 100 

Min Power Zone 

0% 

-1% 

-2% 

-3% 

-4% 

-5% 

-6% 

Performance Loss (%) 

% Pwr Reduction 

% Perf Loss 

Performance and Power impact is dependent on configuration, application and load.

ProLiant Power Management 

ROM or Operating System Flexibility 

Intel 

Models 

AMD 

Models 

ROM Power 

Management 

Power Regulator 

• Dynamic power 

Selected models 

• Static low power 

All models except low bin 

Power Regulator 

• Static low power 

All models except low bin 

• No OS dependency 

• Foundation for value 

add functionality 

OS Power 

Management 

Demand Based 

Switching 



PowerNow 



• Heterogeneous 

deployment

New Thermal Logic cooling 

technologies 

Active Cool Fans 

Control algorithm to optimize for 

any configuration based on customer 

parameter of 

• Air flow 

• Acoustics 

• Power 

• Performance 

PARSEC architecture 

20 

patents 

pending 

Parallel, redundant and scalable airflow design 

• All blades in parallel 

• Cooled by all fans in parallel 

• Air distribution manifold 

• Back flow preventers on all fans 

• Shut off doors on all servers

c7000 PARSEC Architecture 

• Hybrid Model 

− Advantages of both local and 

central cooling 

− Blades are divided into 4 zones 

− Fans in each zone provide 

• Cooling for blades in that zone 

• Plus redundant cooling for other 

blades 

• Centralized Cooling Done 

Right 

Fan 1 Fan 2 Fan 3 Fan 4 Fan 5 

Blade 

Zone 1 

2 FH or 

4 HH 

Blade 

Zone 2 

2 FH or 

4 HH 

Blade 

Zone 3 

2 FH or 

4 HH 

Blade 

Zone 4 

2 FH or 

4 HH 

Fan 6 Fan 7 Fan 8 Fan 8 Fan 10 

PS 1 PS 2 PS 3 PS 4 PS 5 PS 6 


Existing Fan Technology 

• DL360/BL20p style fan 

− Develop high pressure 

− Poor at generating high CFM 

− Need lots of fans 

• IBM Style Blower 

− Good at generating CFM 

− Moderate at developing pressure 

− Sensitive to inlet geometry 

− High Power requirement

Fans 

• Fan Laws 

− Volume of air flow varies as (fan diameter)³ and as rpm 

− Pressure developed varies as (fan diameter)² and as (rpm)² 

− Power absorbed by the fan varies as (fan diameter) 5 and as (rpm)³ 

− Sound pressure varies as (air speed) 6 

• Fan Concepts 

− Pressure 

− Airflow 

• Significant Tradeoffs have to be made 

− Larger fans move more air but take more power 

− Smaller fans need higher rpm to move the same amount of air 

− Higher rpm means higher noise for a given size fan 

− There are physical limits on how fast a fan can go 

− More fans = more power and more cost

What’s needed 

• A new fan technology 

− High CFM 

− High pressure 

− Best in class acoustics 

− Best in class power consumption 

• A new cooling architecture 

− Think beyond just a server blade 

− A Bladed System 

− Combine the best of both worlds 

• Centralized cooling 

• That scales as you grow 

• “Centralized cooling done right”

HP Active Cool Fan 

• Custom fan design delivering better than 

industry performance 

• High air flow 

• High pressure 

• Best in class reliability 

• Superior acoustics across entire operating 

range 

• Cool Facts 

− 4 Active Cool fans could cool an IBM 

BladeCenter with N+1 redundancy 

− 1 Active Cool fan could cool 5 DL360G4 


Fan Qty versus Power 

Power versus CFM 

6 Fans 8 Fans 10 Fans 

Power 

CFM 

Acoustics 

6 fans are 3.7 dB louder than 8 fans. 

For sounds with similar frequency content, most people consider a 3dB change in sound 

pressure a noticeable difference in sound. 


Enclosure Management 

Enclosure 

inflow and 

outflow 

temperatures 

Rack-level 

BTU/hour 

Actual power 

usage 

Maximum 

power available 


HP Onboard Administrator 

Remote BladeSystem Management 

The intelligence of the c7000 BladeSystem! 

• Real-time power and cooling control 

• Device health and configuration (enclosure, blade, switch) 

• Integrated iLO 2 with each server blade providing single sign-on for easy 

access 


HP Insight Display 

Local BladeSystem Management 

Simple and easy to learn! 

• Simplifies installation and 

setup 

• Visual indicators of faults 

• Visual info on ambient 

inflow temperatures 

• Monitors device status 

• Graphical instructions on 

fixing configuration issues 

• Secure local management 


Thermal Logic Summarized 

• Instant thermal monitoring 

− Real-time heat, power and 

cooling data 

• Active Cool fans (20 patents 

pending) 

− Control algorithm to optimize 

Airflow, Acoustics, Power, 

and Performance 

• Dynamic Power Saver 

− Power load shifting for max 

efficiency and reliability 

• Power Regulator 

− ROM-controlled speed stepping 

• Power workload balancing 

− Saves power while maximizing 

performance per watt 

• Pooled power 

− N+N power redundancy 


Cooling Strategies: 

How is the market served today? 

No easy solution for customer pain points 

Today’s point solutions 

• Partitioning 

− Liquid- or refrigerant-based solutions; air containment and baffling (HP, Liebert, Verari) 

• "Encapsulated best practices" like APC InfrastruXure 

• Element efficiency (Intel-AMD CPU perf/watt, HP c-Class Thermal Logic) 

• Facilities plays outside the data center (air- and water-side optimizers) 

• Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modeling (HP Static Smart 

Cooling) 

Gap in current industry approach 

• No one has yet married provisioning logic with thermodynamics, end-toend 

from servers to data center management. 

− HP working to convert energy into a variable cost and tie into policy-based 

logic 

− HP introduced server resource provisioning tools in the 1990s 

− HP has researched heat transfer for the last 20 years 

− HP is the first to bridge facilities and IT for Adaptive Infrastructure

Customers are over-provisioning cooling 

capacity 

HP’s Holistic approach bridges the gap between facilities and IT 

• Cooling represents upwards of 

60-70% of data center power 

spend 

• Approximately 85% of the world’s 

data centers are overprovisioned 

by more than double 

Servers and 

Storage 

AC Power 

Conversion 

Cooling 

•IT industry focuses on server and storage efficiency 

•Facilities industry focuses on actuator/generator efficiency 

•HP focuses on the ensemble of IT + facilities together 

•US$10B data center cooling spend in 2005 

Sources: Preliminary assessment from Uptime Institute; IDC Data Center of the 

Future US Server Power Spend for 2005 as a baseline ($6bn); applied a cooling 

factor of 1; applied a 0.6 multiplier to US data for WW amount; Belady, C., Malone, 

C., “Data Center Power Projection to 2014”, 2006 ITHERM, San Diego, CA (June 

2006)

Industry needs to benchmark data centers 

Efficient components are necessary, but not sufficient 

HP introduces “Power Usage Effectiveness” (PUE) for the data 

center 

• Look at the ratio of building load to IT load as a measure of efficiency 

PUE = Building Load / IT Load 

Industry numbers suggest 

PUE = 1.6 Ideal 0% 

PUE = 2.0 Target 5% 

PUE = 2.4 Ave 10% 

PUE = +3.0 Poor 85% 

Building load 

Demand from grid 

Power (Switch Gear, 

UPS, Battery 

backup, and so on) 

Cooling (Chillers, 

CRACs, and so on) 

IT load 

Demand from 

servers, storage, 

telco equipment, and 

so on 

Source: Belady, C., Malone, C., “Data Center Power Projection to 2014”, 2006 ITHERM, San Diego, CA (June 2006)

Robust Solution Requires a Holistic Approach 

• Complex problem 

• Multi-layered challenge 

• Interdependencies –standardsbased 

approach 

• Energy – finite planet resource 

Temperatur 

e 

2nd law-based tool from chip 

scale to data center scale 

Non-uniform 

power 

Flow 

irreversibility 

Thermodynamic 


Non-ideal 

effects 

Energ 

y flow 

Non-uniform 

power 

Flow 


Non-ideal 

effects 

SYSTEM 

Non-uniform power 

CHIP 

Flow and thermodynamic work 

Ground 

state 

(ambient) 

DATA 

CENTER 

Exergy (available work) 

Source: HP Labs and UC Berkeley

It’s now one conversation 

Cooling 

solutions 

Infrastructure 

products 

Chip 

design 

System 

design 

Data 

center 

services 

Energy efficient 

data center 

(lowest TCO) 

Server 

& 

storage 

consolidation 

Industry 

standards 

Virtualization 

& 

automation 

technologies 

Power 

& 

cooling 

management 

Business 

continuity & 

availability

The Provisioning Dilemma 

“If too much site infrastructure 

capacity is installed, those making the 

investment recommendations will be 

criticized for the resulting low siteequipment 

utilization and poor 

efficiency. If too little capacity is 

installed, a company’s IT strategy may 

be constrained…”* 

* Reprinted with permission of The Uptime Institute from a White Paper titled Heat 

Density Trends in Data Processing, Computer Systems, and Telecommunications 

Equipment Version 1.0. 

HP Energy Provisioning Strategy 

Can we make facilities modular? 

Can we provision energy like IT? 

Can we make energy a variable 

cost? 

Can we tie that variable cost to 

business and application priorities?

Introducing HP Dynamic Smart Cooling 

HP unique innovation—over 1,000 patents in cooling 

Provisioning energy for data center efficiency 

• Industry’s first intelligent cooling management system 

− Pervasive thermal sensing grid down to the rack level 

− HP intelligent management software delivers continuous, real-time Computational Fluid 

Dynamics (CFD) 

− Adaptive control of Variable-Flow Devices (VFDs) in Computer Room Air Conditioner 

(CRAC) 

• Standard interfaces to air-conditioning and building management systems 

• Easy to retrofit or spec for new construction applications 

• Agnostic to IT equipment in the racks 

“Dynamic Smart Cooling is the most 

remarkable development for data center 

critical support systems.” 

-Peter Gross, CEO and CTO, EYP Mission Critical Facilities 

Inc.

Only cool where and when you need it 

Automated energy provisioning for cooling applications 

DSC features: 

• Pervasive sensing grid with intelligent, 

adaptive control of air conditioners 

• A network of sensors deployed on racks 

feed thermal information to 

management software in real time. 

• Management SW continually allocates 

airflow into fluidic partitions 

corresponding to highest-efficiency 

cooling zones that cooperate in the 

event of environmental events. 

• Thermodynamic controller software 

continually optimizes thermal 

environment through low-latency 

adjustments to CRAC fan speed and 

temperature set points. 

• Incorporated into overall data center 

management solution 

• Automated provisioning: as customers 

add/delete equipment, DSC 

automatically reconfigures fluidic 

partitions.

HP Data Center Solution Builder Program 

Charting the path forward to Adaptive Infrastructure 

• Partnering is in our DNA 

• HP is creating a data center design partner ecosystem for industry 

leaders 

− Open to architecture & engineering (A&E), equipment manufacturers, 

mechanical contractors, utility companies, software companies, service 

providers and real estate specialists 

− Accelerate and drive adoption of energy-efficient data center solutions 

• Co-designing next generation data centers with key customers & 

partners 

− Around the world, in every industry vertical 

− First customer was HP IT

Key takeaways 

• Dedicated & Holistic approach across the data 

center and delivery of the Adaptive 

Infrastructure 

− A strong product and services portfolio to 

address customer’s current and future 

power and cooling challenges 

− Best positioned to leverage the “power” of the 

portfolio & provide unique power and cooling 

products, solutions and services available today 

• Experts on hand to help customers evaluate their 

data center environment 

− Data center service portfolio for assessment, 

design and ongoing life cycle support 

• Today’s announcement is another proof point of 

HP innovation in this space

Thank you! 

Ken Baker 

BladeSystem Infrastructure 

Technologist 

mrblade@hp.com 

© 2006 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. 

The information contained herein is subject to change without notice

HP BladeSystem Family - Critical Facilities Round Table

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