Power state control for a desktop blade in a blade server system

1. A method for enabling remote power state control of a computer device, said method comprising:

receiving a pre-defined input to activate a power state control utility;

providing a user interface with options for selection of one or more power states including a sleep state and a hibernate state of a client blade located at a remote blade center;

enabling selection of the sleep state and the hibernate state only when a privilege level associated with an authenticated user is a first privilege level, wherein when the privilege level is not the first privilege level, only a power on and power off power states are supported for the authenticated user;

encapsulating within a network packet a selected power state from among the one or more power states; and

transmitting the network packet to the computer device via a network connection, wherein receipt of the network packet at the computer device triggers a change in power state of the computer device to the selected power state encapsulated within the network packet;

wherein when the computer device is the client blade and the power state encapsulated within the network packet is one of the sleep state and the hibernate state, a receipt of the network packet at the client blade triggers the client blade to enter into a respective one of the sleep state and the hibernate state from a remote device.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a confirmation message from the computer device; and

generating an output of a current power state of the computer device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the client blade comprises a User Interface Compression Card and the Blade Center comprises an Ethernet switch for connecting to the network, said method further comprising:

establishing a connection with the client blade via Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) over the network; and

maintaining the connection with the client blade following a change in power state of the client blade.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

providing a list of selectable power states from among a sleep state, a hibernate state, a standby state, power-off state, and a power-on state; and

generating a network packet encapsulating data corresponding to the specific one of the selectable power states that is the selected power state.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving user authentication input to activate the power state control utility;

determining a privilege level of the received user authentication input after the authentication is confirmed; and

when the sleep state or hibernate state is selected and the privilege level is the first privilege level, said encapsulating encapsulates a selected one of the sleep state or the hibernate state.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

receiving a password as a component of the user authentication input, wherein the password is implemented in the form of a privilege bit mask;

verifying, via the privilege bit mask, a level of access to the power states by the authenticated user; and

enabling the level of access to modify the power state of the client blade based on the privilege bit mask.

7. A computer program product comprising:

a computer readable storage medium; and

program instructions on the computer readable storage medium that when executed within a blade-server system enables remote power state control of a network-connected computer device, said program instruction comprising program instructions for:

receiving a pre-defined input to activate a power state control utility;

providing a user interface with options for selection of one or more power states including a sleep state and a hibernate state of a client blade located at a remote blade center;

enabling selection of sleep state and the hibernate state only when the privilege level associated with an authenticated user is a first privilege level, wherein when the privilege level is not the first privilege level, only a power on and power off power states are supported for the authenticated user;

encapsulating a selected power state from among the one or more power states in a network packet; and

transmitting the network packet to the computer device via a network connection, wherein receipt of the network packet at the computer device triggers a change in power state of the computer device to the selected power state encapsulated within the network packet;

wherein when the computer device is the client blade and the power state encapsulated within the network packet is one of the sleep state and the hibernate state, a receipt of the network packet at the client blade triggers the client blade to enter into a respective one of the sleep state and the hibernate state from a remote device.

8. The computer program product of claim 7 , further comprising program instructions for:

receiving a confirmation message from the computer device; and

generating an output of a current power state of the computer device.

9. The computer program product of claim 7 , wherein the client blade comprises a User Interface Compression Card and the Blade Center comprises an Ethernet switch for connecting to the network, said program instructions further comprising instructions for:

establishing a connection with the client blade via Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) over the network; and

maintaining the connection with the client blade following a change in power state of the client blade.

10. The computer program product of claim 7 , further comprising program instructions for:

providing a list of selectable power states from among a sleep state, a hibernate state, a standby state, power-off state, and a power-on state; and

generating a network packet encapsulating data corresponding to the specific one of the selectable power states that is the selected power state.

11. The computer program product of claim 7 , further comprising program instructions for:

receiving user authentication input to activate the power state control utility;

determining a privilege level of the received user authentication input after the authentication is confirmed;

and

when the sleep state or hibernate state is selected and the privilege level is the first privilege level, said encapsulating encapsulates a selected one of the sleep state or the hibernate state.

12. The computer program product of claim 11 , further comprising program instructions for:

receiving a password as a component of the user authentication input, wherein the password is implemented in the form of a privilege bit mask;

verifying, via the privilege bit mask, a level of access to the power states by the authenticated user; and

enabling the level of access to modify the power state of the client blade based on the privilege bit mask.

13. A system for enabling remote power state control of a network-connected computer device, said system comprising:

a computer device including:

a processor and memory;

a utility providing program instructions that when executed on the processor performs the functions of:

receiving a pre-defined input to activate a power state control utility;

providing a user interface with options for selection of one or more power states including a sleep state and a hibernate state of a client blade located at a remote blade center;

enabling selection of sleep state and the hibernate state only when the privilege level associated with an authenticated user is a first privilege level, wherein when the privilege level is not the first privilege level, only a power on and power off power states are supported for the authenticated user;

encapsulating a selected power state from among the one or more power states in a network packet; and

transmitting the network packet to the computer device via a network connection, wherein receipt of the network packet at the computer device triggers a change in power state of the computer device to the selected power state encapsulated within the network packet;

wherein when the computer device is the client blade and the power state encapsulated within the network packet is one of the sleep state and the hibernate state, a receipt of the network packet at the client blade triggers the client blade to enter into a respective one of the sleep state and the hibernate state from a remote device.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein said utility further comprises program instructions for:

receiving a confirmation message from the computer device; and

generating an output of a current power state of the computer device.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the client blade comprises a User Interface Compression Card and the Blade Center comprises an Ethernet switch for connecting to the network, said utility further comprising instructions for:

establishing a connection with the client blade via Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) over the network; and

maintaining the connection with the client blade following a change in power state of the client blade.

16. The system of claim 13 , said utility further comprising program instructions for:

providing a list of selectable power states from among a sleep state, a hibernate state, a standby state, power-off state, and a power-on state; and

generating a network packet encapsulating data corresponding to the specific one of the selectable power states that is the selected power state.

17. The system of claim 13 , said utility further comprising instructions for:

receiving user authentication input to activate the power state control utility;

determining a privilege level of the received user authentication input after the authentication is confirmed;

and

when the sleep state or hibernate state is selected and the privilege level is the first privilege level, said encapsulating encapsulates a selected one of the sleep state or the hibernate state.

18. The system of claim 17 , said utility further comprising instructions for:

receiving a password as a component of the user authentication input, wherein the password is implemented in the form of a privilege bit mask;

verifying, via the privilege bit mask, a level of access to the power states by the authenticated user; and

enabling the level of access to modify the power state of the client blade based on the privilege bit mask.