Power management for clusters of computers

1. A method of power management for clusters of computers, a cluster comprising a configuration of computers operating in a power management domain, one or more of the computers of the cluster having a power requirement that differs from power requirements of other computers in the cluster, data processing operations on the cluster effecting a processing load on the computers in the cluster, the method comprising:

selecting, from a plurality of predefined configurations of computers capable of supporting a plurality of processing loads at a plurality of power levels, a configuration of computers capable of supporting the processing load at a lowest power level, each predefined configuration comprising a specified group of computers capable of executing a specified data processing load at a specified power level, the lowest power level defined by comparison among configurations capable of supporting the processing load; and

reconfiguring the cluster according to the selected configuration.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the configurations are specified in a table comprising records, each record representing a configuration of computers capable of supporting a specified data processing load at a specified power level; and

selecting a configuration further comprises selecting from the table a record representing a configuration of computers capable of supporting the processing load on the computers in the cluster at a lowest power level.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein reconfiguring the cluster according to the selected configuration further comprises:

excluding from the cluster all of the computers that are not in the selected configuration;

including in the cluster all of the computers that are in the selected configuration; and

migrating data processing operations from the excluded computers to the computers in the selected configuration.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein:

selecting a configuration further comprises selecting a set of configurations that define a range of supported load capabilities surrounding the processing load at lowest power levels;

the method further comprises setting a temporal hysteresis, the temporal hysteresis comprising a period of time during which reconfiguring the cluster is prohibited; and

reconfiguring the cluster further comprises reconfiguring the cluster according to one of the configurations in the selected set, the reconfiguring carried out upon detecting a change in the processing load, the change in the processing load exceeding a predetermined threshold, the reconfiguring carried out in accordance with the temporal hysteresis.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising recording, for each of a plurality of test processing loads, a power level required by each of a plurality of configurations of computers from a pool of computers on standby for inclusion in the cluster.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the method further comprises detecting a failure of a computer in the cluster;

selecting a configuration further comprises selecting a configuration in response to detecting a failure of a computer in the cluster; and

reconfiguring the cluster further comprises reconfiguring the cluster in response to detecting a failure of a computer in the cluster.

7. An apparatus for power management for clusters of computers, a cluster comprising a configuration of computers operating in a power management domain, one or more of the computers of the cluster having a power requirement that differs from power requirements of other computers in the cluster, data processing operations on the cluster effecting a processing load on the computers in the cluster, the apparatus comprising a computer processor, a computer memory operatively coupled to the computer processor, the computer memory having disposed within it computer program instructions capable of:

selecting, from a plurality of predefined configurations of computers capable of supporting a plurality of processing loads at a plurality of power levels, a configuration of computers capable of supporting the processing load at a lowest power level, each predefined configuration comprising a specified group of computers capable of executing a specified data processing load at a specified power level, the lowest power level defined by comparison among configurations capable of supporting the processing load; and

reconfiguring the cluster according to the selected configuration.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein:

the configurations are specified in a table comprising records, each record representing a configuration of computers capable of supporting a specified data processing load at a specified power level; and

selecting a configuration further comprises selecting from the table a record representing a configuration of computers capable of supporting the processing load on the computers in the cluster at a lowest power level.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein reconfiguring the cluster according to the selected configuration further comprises:

excluding from the cluster all of the computers that are not in the selected configuration;

including in the cluster all of the computers that are in the selected configuration; and

migrating data processing operations from the excluded computers to the computers in the selected configuration.

10. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein:

selecting a configuration further comprises selecting a set of configurations that define a range of supported load capabilities surrounding the processing load at lowest power levels;

the apparatus further comprises computer program instructions capable of setting a temporal hysteresis, the temporal hysteresis comprising a period of time during which reconfiguring the cluster is prohibited; and

reconfiguring the cluster further comprises reconfiguring the cluster according to one of the configurations in the selected set, the reconfiguring carried out upon detecting a change in the processing load, the change in the processing load exceeding a predetermined threshold, the reconfiguring carried out in accordance with the temporal hysteresis.

11. The apparatus of claim 7 further comprising computer program instructions capable of recording, for each of a plurality of test processing loads, a power level required by each of a plurality of configurations of computers from a pool of computers on standby for inclusion in the cluster.

12. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein:

the apparatus further comprises computer program instructions capable of detecting a failure of a computer in the cluster;

selecting a configuration further comprises selecting a configuration in response to detecting a failure of a computer in the cluster; and

reconfiguring the cluster further comprises reconfiguring the cluster in response to detecting a failure of a computer in the cluster.

13. A computer program product for power management for clusters of computers, a cluster comprising a configuration of computers operating in a power management domain, one or more of the computers of the cluster having a power requirement that differs from power requirements of other computers in the cluster, data processing operations on the cluster effecting a processing load on the computers in the cluster, the computer program product disposed in a computer readable, recordable medium, the computer program product comprising computer program instructions capable of:

selecting, from a plurality of predefined configurations of computers capable of supporting a plurality of processing loads at a plurality of power levels, a configuration of computers capable of supporting the processing load at a lowest power level, each predefined configuration comprising a specified group of computers capable of executing a specified data processing load at a specified power level, the lowest power level defined by comparison among configurations capable of supporting the processing load; and

reconfiguring the cluster according to the selected configuration.

14. The computer program product of claim 13 wherein:

the configurations are specified in a table comprising records, each record representing a configuration of computers capable of supporting a specified data processing load at a specified power level; and

selecting a configuration further comprises selecting from the table a record representing a configuration of computers capable of supporting the processing load on the computers in the cluster at a lowest power level.

15. The computer program product of claim 13 wherein reconfiguring the cluster according to the selected configuration further comprises:

excluding from the cluster all of the computers that are not in the selected configuration;

including in the cluster all of the computers that are in the selected configuration; and

migrating data processing operations from the excluded computers to the computers in the selected configuration.

16. The computer program product of claim 13 wherein:

selecting a configuration further comprises selecting a set of configurations that define a range of supported load capabilities surrounding the processing load at lowest power levels;

the computer program product further comprises computer program instructions capable of setting a temporal hysteresis, the temporal hysteresis comprising a period of time during which reconfiguring the cluster is prohibited; and

reconfiguring the cluster further comprises reconfiguring the cluster according to one of the configurations in the selected set, the reconfiguring carried out upon detecting a change in the processing load, the change in the processing load exceeding a predetermined threshold, the reconfiguring carried out in accordance with the temporal hysteresis.

17. The computer program product of claim 13 further comprising computer program instructions capable of recording, for each of a plurality of test processing loads, a power level required by each of a plurality of configurations of computers from a pool of computers on standby for inclusion in the cluster.

18. The computer program product of claim 13 wherein:

the computer program product further comprises computer program instructions capable of detecting a failure of a computer in the cluster;

selecting a configuration further comprises selecting a configuration in response to detecting a failure of a computer in the cluster; and

reconfiguring the cluster further comprises reconfiguring the cluster in response to detecting a failure of a computer in the cluster.