System and method for aggressively budgeting power allocation for an information handling system using redundant configuration of power supply units

1. A computer-implementable method of budgeting power allocation for an information handling system, the computer-implementable method comprising:

in response to determining that the information handling system is to be powered by a redundant configuration of multiple PSUs having a primary PSU in redundant configuration with a secondary PSU: calculating a power budget, based on discovery of installed system components, of a thermal design power (TDP) of the system that is a first amount of power required for the system that is less than a maximum amount of power that can be consumed by the system during periodic power transients; and configuring the system to be powered using the TDP during normal operation and to autonomously utilize unused operating margin of the redundant configuration of the PSUs during periods in which the system requires greater than the first amount of power, wherein the system is configured to draw, from the redundant configuration of multiple PSUs, a maximum power equal to the TDP plus a maximum value of all of the power transients, wherein the maximum power exceeds one hundred percent of a total power capacity of a single one of the primary PSU and the secondary PSU by utilizing a portion of total available power capacity from the combination of the primary PSU and the secondary PSU;

wherein the TDP of the system does not exceed the output of the primary PSU within the redundant configuration;

in response to determining that the information handling system is not to be, or no longer, powered by a redundant configuration of multiple PSUs, calculating a power budget, based on discovery of installed system components, of a second amount of power for the system that is at least equal to the maximum power that can be consumed by the system, and which does not exceed the output of the primary PSU; and

in response to a total amount of current system power required being above the first amount of power budgeted, automatically allocating unused operating margins of reserve power from the redundant configuration of the PSUs in order to support system operation within a power envelope that accounts for the power transients by extending the power envelope to include the power transients, wherein the maximum power consumed during the power transients can be greater than a total power capacity of the primary PSU, while the IHS is operating in the redundant configuration of PSUs.

2. The computer-implementable method of claim 1 , wherein:

the second amount of power is at least equal to a highest value of power required to support a power envelope which includes power transients that can occur in the system and which is greater than the TDP of the system;

a maximum value of the power transients are included in a calculation for PSU right sizing during power budgeting for the system when the information handling system is to be powered by the primary PSU; and

the power transients are removed from direct consideration during PSU right sizing for the system when the information handling system is to be powered by a redundant PSU configuration.

3. The computer-implementable method of claim 1 , wherein:

budgeting the first amount of power comprises: determining a first sum of power consumed by all components within the system when operating in a sustained power consumption state; comparing the first sum of power to a maximum power output of the primary PSU; assigning the first sum of power as the budgeted first amount of power in response to the first sum of power being less than the power output of the primary PSU; and

budgeting the second amount of power comprises: determining a second maximum amount of power consumed by all components when operating in an enhanced power consumption state, wherein the enhanced power consumption state involves greater overall power consumption than the sustained power consumption state due to power transients; and setting the second amount of power budget to the second maximum amount of power.

4. The computer-implementable method of claim 3 , wherein determining the first total amount of power comprises:

adding each individual amount of power consumable by each hardware component during normal operation of the hardware components within the system to generate a first total amount of power; and

determining the second maximum amount of power comprises:

identifying which components are capable of intermittently operating in enhanced operating states in which the component consumes additional amounts of power above a sustained consumption for the particular component, where the additional amounts of power yield detectable power transients;

adding together each of the detectable power transients for all components in the system to yield a total power transient; and

adding the total power transient to the first total amount of power to yield the second maximum amount of power.

5. The computer-implementable method of claim 1 , wherein:

at least one component of the system intermittently consumes additional amounts of power above a sustained power consumption for that component to intermittently generate power transients above a thermal design power (TDP) of the system;

said second amount of power comprises a power allocation that is sufficient to support periods in which the power transients are generated within the system; and

a non-transient portion of the second amount of power is provided by the primary PSU, and the power transients are supported by one or more of additional power capacity provided within the primary PSU, power capacity of an internal battery backup, and power capacity of a universal power supply.

6. The computer-implementable method of claim 1 , wherein, while the information handling system is being powered by the redundant configuration of two or more PSUs with the first amount of power budgeted for the system, the method further comprises:

monitoring system power usage within the information handling system;

detecting when at least one component is operating in a state that generates power transients, which causes the system to consume greater than the first amount of power budgeted.

7. The computer-implementable method of claim 6 , wherein the at least one component includes a central processing unit (CPU), which operates in one of (a) a first CPU state in which the processor consumes a first amount of CPU power that is supported within a power envelope corresponding to the first amount of system power and (b) a second enhanced CPU state in which the processor consumes a second amount of CPU power that requires a larger power envelope corresponding to the second amount of system power.

8. An information handling system for budgeting power allocation, the information handling system comprising:

at least one processor that executes program code; and

a power controller communicatively coupled to the at least one processor and to other components within the information handling system and which includes firmware that executes on a microprocessor of the power controller to configure the power controller to:

determine whether the information handling system is to be powered by a redundant configuration of two or more power supply units (PSUs) including a primary PSU and a secondary PSU;

in response to determining that the information handling system is to be powered by a redundant configuration of two or more PSUs, budget a thermal design power (TDP) of the system that is a first amount of power for the system that is less than a maximum power that can be utilized by the system and configure the system to be powered using the TDP during normal operation and to autonomously utilize unused operating margins of reserve power from the redundant configuration of the PSUs during periods in which the system requires greater than the first amount of power, wherein the system is configured to draw, from the redundant configuration of multiple PSUs, a maximum power equal to the TDP plus a maximum value of all of the power transients, wherein the maximum power exceeds one hundred percent of a total power capacity of a single one of the primary PSU and the secondary PSU by utilizing a portion of total available power capacity from the combination of the primary PSU and the secondary PSU;

wherein the TDPof the system that does not exceed the output of the primary PSU

in response to determining that the information handling system is not to be, or no longer, powered by a redundant configuration of two or more PSUs, budget a second amount of power for the system that is at least equal to the maximum power that can be utilized by the system, and which does not exceed the output of the primary PSU; and

in response to a total amount of current system power required being above the first amount of power budgeted, automatically allocate unused operating margins of reserve power from the redundant configuration of the PSUs in order to support system operation within a power envelope that accounts for the power transients by extending the power envelope to include the power transients, wherein the maximum power consumed during the power transients can be greater than a total power capacity of the primary PSU, while the IHS is operating in the redundant configuration of PSUs.

9. The information handling system of claim 8 , wherein:

the second amount of power is at least equal to a highest value of power required to support power transients that can occur in the system during operation and which is above the TDP of the system;

the maximum value of the power transients are included in a calculation for PSU right sizing during power budgeting for the system when the information handling system is to be powered by the primary PSU or otherwise non-redundant PSU configuration; and

the power transients are removed from direct consideration during PSU right sizing for the system when the information handling system is to be powered by a redundant PSU configuration.

10. The information handling system of claim 9 , wherein:

at least one component of the system intermittently consumes additional amounts of power above a sustained power consumption for that component to intermittently generate power transients above a thermal design power (TDP) of the system; and

said second amount of power comprises a power allocation that is sufficient to support periods in which the power transients are generated within the system.

11. The information handling system of claim 10 , wherein, while the information handling system is being powered by the redundant configuration of two or more PSUs with the first amount of power budgeted for the system, the firmware further configures the power controller to:

monitor system power usage within the information handling system; and

detect when at least one component is operating in a state that generates power transients, which causes the system to consume greater than the first amount of power budgeted.

12. The information handling system of claim 10 , wherein the at least one component includes a central processing unit (CPU), which operates in one of (a) a first CPU state in which the processor consumes a first amount of CPU power that is supported within a power envelope corresponding to the first amount of system power and (b) a second CPU state in which the processor consumes a second amount of CPU power that requires a larger power envelope corresponding to the second amount of system power.

13. The information handling system of claim 8 , wherein:

the firmware that configures the power controller to budget the first amount of power comprises firmware that configures the power controller to: determine a first sum of power consumed by all components within the system when operating in a sustained power consumption state; compare the first sum of power to a maximum power output of a primary PSU; assign the first sum of power as the budgeted first amount of power in response to the first sum of power being less than the power output of primary PSU;

the firmware that configures the power controller to budget the second amount of power comprises firmware that configures the power controller to: determining a second maximum amount of power consumed by all components when operating in an enhanced power consumption state, wherein the enhanced power consumption state involves greater overall power consumption than the sustained power consumption state due to power transients; and set the second amount of power budget to the second maximum amount of power; and

a non-transient portion of the second amount of power is provided by the primary PSU, and the power transients are supported by one or more of additional power capacity provided within the single or primary PSU, power capacity of an internal battery backup, and power capacity of a universal power supply.

14. The information handling system of claim 13 , wherein:

the firmware that configures the power controller to determine the first total amount of power comprises firmware that configures the power controller to add each individual amount of power consumable by each hardware component during sustained operation of the hardware components within the system to generate the first total amount of power; and

the firmware that configures the power controller to determine the second maximum amount of power comprises firmware that configures the power controller to:

identify which components are capable of operating in enhanced operating states in which the component consumes additional amounts of power above a sustained consumption for the particular component, where the additional amounts of power yield detectable power transients;

add together each of the detectable power transients for all components in the system to yield a total power transient; and

add the total power transient to the first total amount of power to yield the second maximum amount of power.

15. The information handling system of claim 13 , wherein the at least one component consumes a first amount of component power during normal operations and intermittently consumes a second, greater amount of component power during high usage periods.

16. The information handling system of claim 8 , wherein:

the primary PSU includes N PSUs where N is an integer number greater than or equal to 1, and the N PSUs that comprise the primary PSU collectively provide the power necessary to support the IHS;

a secondary PSU of the redundant PSU configuration includes M PSUs that operate as backup PSUs to the primary PSU and which collectively provide additional redundant power capacity; and

the redundant configuration of PSUs comprises N primary PSUs and M secondary PSUs in an N+M configuration.

17. A non-transitory machine-readable storage device embodying machine-executable instructions configured for:

determining whether an information handling system is to be powered by a redundant configuration of multiple power supply units (PSUs) including a primary PSU and a secondary PSU;

in response to determining that the information handling system is to be powered by a redundant configuration of multiple PSUs, budgeting a thermal design power (TDP) of the system that is a first amount of power for the system that is less than a maximum power that can be utilized by the system and configuring the system to be powered using the TDP during normal operation and to autonomously utilize unused operating margins of reserve power from the redundant configuration of the PSUs during periods in which the system requires greater than the first amount of power, wherein the system is configured to draw, from the redundant configuration of multiple PSUs, a maximum power equal to the TDP plus a maximum value of all of the power transients, wherein the maximum power exceeds one hundred percent of a total power capacity of a single one of the primary PSU and the secondary PSU by utilizing a portion of total available power capacity from the combination of the primary PSU and the secondary PSU;

wherein the TDP of the system that does not exceed the output of the primary PSU;

in response to determining that the information handling system is to be powered by a non-redundant configuration of multiple PSUs, budgeting a second amount of power for the system that is at least equal to the maximum power that can be utilized by the system, and which does not exceed the output of the primary PSU; and

in response to a total amount of current system power required being above the first amount of power budgeted, automatically allocating unused operating margins of reserve power from the redundant configuration of the PSUs in order to support system operation within a power envelope that accounts for the power transients by extending the power envelope to include the power transients, wherein the maximum power consumed during the power transients can be greater than a total power capacity of the primary PSU, while the IHS is operating in the redundant configuration of PSUs.

18. The non-transitory machine-readable storage device of claim 17 , wherein:

the second amount of power is at least equal to a highest value of power required to support power transients that can occur in the system during operation and which is above the TDP of the system;

the maximum value of the power transients is included in a calculation for PSU right sizing during power budgeting for the system when the information handling system is to be powered by a primary PSU; and

the power transients are removed from direct consideration during PSU right sizing for the system when the information handling system is to be powered by a redundant PSU configuration.

19. The non-transitory machine-readable storage device of claim 17 , wherein:

the machine executable instructions for budgeting the first amount of power comprises instructions for: determining a first sum of power consumed by all components within the system when operating in a sustained power consumption state; comparing the first sum of power to a maximum power output of a primary PSU; assigning the first sum of power as the budgeted first amount of power in response to the first sum of power being less than the power output of the primary PSU;

the machine executable instructions for budgeting the second amount of power comprises instructions for: determining a second maximum amount of power consumed by all components when operating in an enhanced power consumption state, wherein the enhanced power consumption state involves greater overall power consumption than the sustained power consumption state due to power transients; and setting the second amount of power budget to the second maximum amount of power; and

a non-transient portion of the second amount of power is provided by the primary PSU, and the power transients are supported by one or more of additional power capacity provided within the primary PSU, power capacity of an internal battery backup, and power capacity of a universal power supply.

20. The non-transitory machine-readable storage device of claim 19 , wherein:

the machine executable instructions for determining the first total amount of power comprises instructions for adding each individual amount of power consumable by each hardware component during normal operation of the hardware components within the system to generate the first total amount of power; and

the machine executable instructions for determining the second maximum amount of power comprises instructions for:

identifying which components are capable of operating in enhanced operating states in which the component consumes additional amounts of power above a normal consumption for the particular component, where the additional amounts of power yield detectable power transients;

adding together each of the detectable power transients for all components in the system to yield a total power transient; and

adding the total power transient to the first total amount of power to yield the second maximum amount of power.

21. The non-transitory machine-readable storage device of claim 17 , wherein:

at least one component consumes a first amount of component power during normal operations and intermittently consumes a second, greater amount of component power during high usage periods to intermittently generate power transients above a thermal design power (TDP) of the system; and

said second amount of power comprises a power allocation that is sufficient to support periods in which the power transients are generated within the system.

22. The non-transitory machine-readable storage device of claim 21 , wherein, while the information handling system is being powered by the redundant configuration of two or more PSUs with the first amount of power budgeted for the system, the machine-executable instructions are further configured for:

monitoring system power usage within the information handling system;

detecting when at least one component is operating in a state that generates power transients, which causes the system to consume greater than the first amount of power budgeted.

23. The non-transitory machine-readable storage device of claim 21 , wherein the at least one component includes a central processing unit (CPU), which operates in one of (a) a first CPU state in which the processor consumes a first amount of CPU power that is supported within a power envelope corresponding to the first amount of system power and (b) a second CPU state in which the processor consumes a second amount of CPU power that requires a larger power envelope corresponding to the second amount of system power.