SBIR Phase Intelligent Software Power Management on Multicore Systems

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop and commercialize an intelligent software power management solution for multicore-based server-class systems. Existing open source and commercial power management solutions place processors into low power states to save power. Unfortunately, lower power equates to lower performance which can seriously impair the user experience or violate service level agreements for servers deployed by ISPs and others. Hence, in production environments, most data center facilities and end users with performance-sensitive missions disable power management altogether. Over the course of this project, the company will determine the technical and commercial feasibility of multicore power management in production environments. 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 about 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 successful, the current effort will provide ROI in the form of 10-35% decreased energy consumption per server for end users without compromising service, performance or productivity. This effort has the potential to leverage emerging multicore technologies and migrate from research and development to the commercial, profitable marketplace. This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).