SBIR Phase II:Intelligent Software Power Management for Windows-based Systems

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will develop and commercialize an intelligent software power management data center solution. The current default power management can seriously degrade server performance as much as 40% under certain loads. As a result, the default power management is currently not deployed and most servers in the data center are wasting significant energy. The proposed product encourages users to enable the unique power management capabilities to save up to 35% energy under normal load. The approach allows users to set the expected service-level and bound the impact of power management on server performance. For example, users can set a policy of < 10% performance loss and the software will save as much energy as possible without violating the policy. Data center operators require energy efficient servers in the data center. Data centers in the U.S. and abroad provide the technological backbone for the Internet and e-commerce. As of 2005, data centers accounted for 2% of total U.S. energy consumption. Data center managers cite power consumption as their largest concern today since: 1) energy costs to run servers are now typically greater than acquisition costs; and 2) excessive energy use produces heat that reduces system reliability. If successfully deployed, the proposed approach has the potential to address an emerging market pain point and to make a significant positive economic impact.