1. Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to an information handling system and in particular to power management for cooling systems within an information handling system.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continue to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes, thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
New generations of information handling systems have required increases in power capabilities over prior generations. Seemingly without exception, new designs have increased components such as central processing units (CPU), hard disk drives (HDD), memory, various adapters and controllers, all of which generate heat. As each generation has an increased thermal load, effective management of cooling systems is of increasing importance.
The “thermal design power (TDP)” for a given component represents a maximum amount of heat a cooling system is required to dissipate. That is, if a cooling system is capable of dissipating the TDP rated heat for a given component, the component will operate as intended. In short, the TDP is the power budget under which the various components must operate. However, the TDP is not the maximum power a component can consume. For example, it is possible for a processor to consume more than the TDP power for a short period of time without it being “thermally significant.” Using basic physics, heat will take some time to propagate, so a short burst may not jeopardize the goal of staying within the TDP.
Various techniques have been employed to manage thermal control in view of system performance. Exemplary techniques have included use of oversized cooling systems, controlling processor speed as a function of temperature, and implementing power capping (i.e., limiting the power to heat generating components). Unfortunately, the various techniques for thermal control can impact system performance. In some instances, the impact is merely nominal. However, this is not always the case.
Unfortunately, power within an information handling system is not limitless and use of system power is not without thermal and performance consequence. Clearly, as a motorized component, the fan can consume a substantial amount of power. In systems that increasingly demand power for computing resources, having power dedicated to the cooling system can substantially impact performance.
That is, while thermal control techniques may limit power to multiple subsystems, such techniques do not account for limiting power to a system fan for controlling power consumption by the fan. Accordingly, design of information handling systems must take into account balance of system performance with thermal control.
What is needed is a solution to provide dynamic run-time bi-directional communication that serves the needs of both power control and thermal control where priority there between may fluctuate.