TY - GEN
T1 - Re-thinking data center power delivery
T2 - 2013 IEEE Power and Energy Conference at Illinois, PECI 2013
AU - McClurg, Josiah
AU - Zhang, Yujia
AU - Wheeler, Jeff
AU - Pilawa-Podgurski, Robert
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - In this paper, the fundamental advantages of series-connected voltage domains are briefly discussed in light of existing power distribution architectures for data centers. The key technical challenges of this architecture are addressed; and results from a working prototype system are presented as a proof of concept. In particular, a straightforward software-only solution is presented which eliminates the need for power conversion hardware between the distribution bus and server. Based on power-aware load balancing of web traffic and server frequency, this design is shown to provide adequate voltage regulation for a cluster of four web servers sharing the same line current. Compared with measurements of maximum server performance, the series-connected configuration shows only a minor reduction in net throughput. As a step toward improving system reliability and performance, a hardware supplement for over-voltage protection is presented along with measurements verifying its operation at full server load.
AB - In this paper, the fundamental advantages of series-connected voltage domains are briefly discussed in light of existing power distribution architectures for data centers. The key technical challenges of this architecture are addressed; and results from a working prototype system are presented as a proof of concept. In particular, a straightforward software-only solution is presented which eliminates the need for power conversion hardware between the distribution bus and server. Based on power-aware load balancing of web traffic and server frequency, this design is shown to provide adequate voltage regulation for a cluster of four web servers sharing the same line current. Compared with measurements of maximum server performance, the series-connected configuration shows only a minor reduction in net throughput. As a step toward improving system reliability and performance, a hardware supplement for over-voltage protection is presented along with measurements verifying its operation at full server load.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84877793888&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1109/PECI.2013.6506050
DO - 10.1109/PECI.2013.6506050
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:84877793888
SN - 9781467356022
T3 - 2013 IEEE Power and Energy Conference at Illinois, PECI 2013
SP - 147
EP - 154
BT - 2013 IEEE Power and Energy Conference at Illinois, PECI 2013
Y2 - 22 February 2013 through 23 February 2013
ER -