Establishing a power profile for generating electrical ratings

1. Apparatus for establishing a power profile of power consuming components of computer system configurations for generating electrical ratings, 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 that, when executed, cause the computer processor to perform the steps of:

receiving, by a power profiling module, a power profile that includes the power consumption of a previous configuration for the computer system;

receiving, by the power profiling module, measured power consumption of a present configuration for the computer system, wherein the present configuration for the computer system includes one or more additional power consuming components not included in the previous configuration for the computer system;

calculating, by the power profiling module in dependence upon the measured power consumption for the present configuration, an estimated power rating for the one or more additional power consuming components not included in the previous configuration; and

recording, by the power profiling module in the power profile, estimated power ratings for the one or more additional power consuming components not included in the previous configuration,

wherein the number of configurations of the computer system for which power consumption is measured is less than the number of possible configurations of the computer system.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising computer program instructions capable of generating, by a system configuration tool in dependence upon the power profile, electrical ratings for one or more computer systems, including:

receiving, from a user, system configuration parameters defining a configuration of a computer system, the system configuration parameters specifying one or more power consuming components of the computer system;

summing, in dependence upon the power profile of power consuming components, estimated power ratings of the power consuming components of the computer system configured in accordance with the system configuration parameters; and

providing, to the user as the electrical rating for the computer system configured in accordance with the system configuration parameters, the sum of estimated power ratings of the power consuming components.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein receiving system configuration parameters defining a configuration of a computer system further comprises:

receiving the system configuration parameters through a graphical user interface (‘GUI’) provided to the user by the system configuration tool.

4. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein receiving system configuration parameters defining a configuration of a computer system further comprises:

receiving the system configuration parameters in a configuration file.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the measured power consumption includes the power consumption when the computer system is idle.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the measured power consumption includes the power consumption when the computer system is executing a maximum load.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising computer program instructions capable of:

receiving, by the power profiling module, measured power consumption of predefined configurations of the computer system, wherein each predefined configuration includes one or more power consuming components;

summing, by the power profiling module for each of the predefined configurations, estimated power ratings of the power consuming components of the predefined configuration; and

comparing, by the power profiling module, each sum of estimated power ratings to the measured power consumptions of the predefined configurations.

8. A computer program product for establishing a power profile of power consuming components of computer system configurations for generating electrical ratings, the computer program product disposed in a recordable computer readable recording medium, wherein the recordable computer readable medium is not a signal, the computer program product comprising computer program instructions that, when executed, cause a computer processor to perform the steps of:

receiving, by a power profiling module, a power profile that includes the power consumption of a previous configuration for the computer system;

receiving, by the power profiling module, measured power consumption of a present configuration for the computer system, wherein the present configuration for the computer system includes one or more additional power consuming components not included in the previous configuration for the computer system;

calculating, by the power profiling module in dependence upon the measured power consumption for the present configuration, an estimated power rating for the one or more additional power consuming components not included in the previous configuration; and

recording, by the power profiling module in a power profile, estimated power ratings for the one or more additional power consuming components not included in the previous configuration,

wherein the number of configurations of the computer system for which power consumption is measured is less than the number of possible configurations of the computer system.

9. The computer program product of claim 8 further comprising computer program instructions capable of generating, by a system configuration tool in dependence upon the power profile, electrical ratings for one or more computer systems, including:

receiving, from a user, system configuration parameters defining a configuration of a computer system, the system configuration parameters specifying one or more power consuming components of the computer system;

summing, in dependence upon the power profile of power consuming components, estimated power ratings of the power consuming components of the computer system configured in accordance with the system configuration parameters; and

providing, to the user as the electrical rating for the computer system configured in accordance with the system configuration parameters, the sum of estimated power ratings of the power consuming components.

10. The computer program product of claim 9 wherein receiving system configuration parameters defining a configuration of a computer system further comprises:

receiving the system configuration parameters in a configuration file.

11. The computer program product of claim 8 wherein the measured power consumption includes the power consumption when the computer system is idle.

12. The computer program product of claim 8 wherein the measured power consumption includes the power consumption when the computer system is executing a maximum load.

13. The computer program product of claim 8 further comprising computer program instructions capable of:

receiving, by the power profiling module, measured power consumption of predefined configurations of the computer system, wherein each predefined configuration includes one or more power consuming components;

summing, by the power profiling module for each of the predefined configurations, estimated power ratings of the power consuming components of the predefined configuration; and

comparing, by the power profiling module, each sum of estimated power ratings to the measured power consumptions of the predefined configurations.