Method of controlling air conditioning, air-conditioning control system and air-conditioning control apparatus

1. A control method for cooling a plurality of servers disposed in a data center that has a cold aisle and a hot aisle, an airflow from the cold aisle to the hot aisle being conducted through the plurality of servers, the control method comprising:

counting, by an air-conditioning control apparatus to control an air conditioner configured to supply cold air to the cold aisle and suck hot air out of the hot aisle, a number of operating servers that are in operation among the plurality of servers disposed in the data center;

generating an air flow from the cold aisle to the hot aisle by controlling the air conditioner in a first mode in which a pressure of the cold aisle is set higher than a pressure of the hot aisle by a predetermined pressure difference, when the acquired number of the operating servers that are in operation among the plurality of servers disposed in the data center is equal to or more than a predetermined threshold;

controlling the air conditioner in a second mode in which the pressure of the cold aisle is set equal to the pressure of the hot aisle, when the counted number of the operating servers that are in operation among the plurality of servers disposed in the data center is less than the predetermined threshold;

notifying the operating servers whether a current mode of the air conditioner is the first mode or the second mode; and

generating, by the operating servers, the air flow from the cold aisle to the hot aisle by driving a fan in each of the operating servers, when a notification that the current mode is the second mode is received from the air-conditioning control apparatus.

2. The control method according to claim 1 , wherein the counting further comprises:

counting a number of operating servers when a first power consumption is equal to a second power consumption, the first power consumption being a power consumption of the air conditioner required for cooling the data center when the air conditioner is operating under the first mode, and the second power consumption being a power consumption of fans in the operating servers required for cooling the data center when the air conditioner is operating under the second mode.

3. The control method according to claim 1 , wherein the determining a pressure difference comprises:

acquiring information of loads of a processor for each of the plurality of servers (N) disposed in the data center;

calculating, for each of a plurality of servers disposed in the data center, an average value (μ) of the loads of the processor (x i ) included in the server;

calculating a target load by adding double standard deviation (σ) of a distribution of the loads to the average value, where (σ) is:

σ

=

1

N

⁢

∑

i

=

1

N

⁢

(

x

i

-

μ

)

2

;

extracting, for each of the plurality of servers, an airflow corresponding to a temperature of the processor under the target load from information indicating a relationship between a target temperature of the processor and an airflow for cooling the processor to the target temperature or less;

calculating a plurality of pressure differences by multiplying, for each of the plurality of servers, an air resistance of a server by the extracted airflow corresponding to the server; and

selecting a maximum value among the plurality of pressure differences as the predetermined pressure difference.

4. An air-conditioning control system to cool a plurality of servers disposed in a data center that has a cold aisle and a hot aisle, the air-conditioning control system comprising:

an air conditioner configured to supply cold air to the cold aisle and suck hot air out of the hot aisle; and

an air-conditioning control apparatus configured to:

count a number of operating servers that are in operation among a plurality of servers disposed in the data center,

generate an air flow from the cold aisle to the hot aisle by controlling the air conditioner in a first mode in which a pressure of the cold aisle is set higher than a pressure of the hot aisle by a predetermined pressure difference, when the acquired number of the operating servers that are in operation among the plurality of servers disposed in the data center is equal to or more than a predetermined threshold,

control the air conditioner in a second mode in which the pressure of the cold aisle is set equal to the pressure of the hot aisle, when the counted number of the operating servers that are in operation among the plurality of servers disposed in the data center is less than the predetermined threshold, and

notify the operating servers whether a current mode of the air conditioner is the first mode or the second mode,

wherein the operating servers are configured to

generate the air flow from the cold aisle to the hot aisle by driving a fan in each of the operating servers, when a notification that the current mode is the second mode is received from the air-conditioning control apparatus.

5. The air-conditioning control system according to claim 4 , further comprising

calculating a number of operating servers when a first power consumption is equal to a second power consumption, the first power consumption being a power consumption of the air conditioner required for cooling the data center when the air conditioner is operating under the first mode, and the second power consumption being a power consumption of fans in the operating servers required for cooling the data center when the air conditioner is operating under the second mode.

6. The air-conditioning control system according to claim 4 , further comprising:

acquiring information of loads of a processor for each of the plurality of servers (N) disposed in the data center;

calculating, for each of a plurality of servers disposed in the data center, an average value (μ) of the loads of the processor (x i ) included in the server;

calculating a target load by adding double standard deviation (σ) of a distribution of the loads to the average value, where (σ) is:

σ

=

1

N

⁢

∑

i

=

1

N

⁢

(

x

i

-

μ

)

2

;

extracting, for each of the plurality of servers, an airflow corresponding to a temperature of the processor under the target load from information indicating a relationship between a target temperature of the processor and an airflow for cooling the processor to the target temperature or less;

calculating a plurality of pressure differences by multiplying, for each of the plurality of servers, an air resistance of a server by the extracted airflow corresponding to the server; and

selecting a maximum value among the plurality of pressure differences as the predetermined pressure difference.

7. The control method according to claim 1 , wherein the acquiring includes:

transmitting, by the air-conditioning control apparatus, a packet to each of the plurality of servers using ping; and

counting a number of the operating servers that responded to the air-conditioning control apparatus in response to the packet.

8. The control method according to claim 1 ,

wherein the controlling the air conditioner by the first mode includes:

generating an airflow from the cold aisle to the hot aisle, by controlling the air conditioner so that the pressure of the cold aisle becomes higher than the pressure of the hot aisle by a predetermined pressure difference; and

cooling the operating servers by the airflow generated by the air conditioner, and

wherein the driving the fan at the predetermined rotational speed includes

suppressing generation of an airflow from the operating servers to the hot aisle by driving the fan in each of the operating servers at a minimum rotational speed as given in a specification.

9. The control method according to claim 8 ,

wherein the driving the fan at the predetermined rotational speed includes

stopping the fan in each of the operating servers to stop generation of the airflow from the operating servers.

10. The control method according to claim 8 ,

wherein the controlling the air conditioner by the second mode includes

suppressing generation of the airflow from the cold aisle to the hot aisle, by controlling the air conditioner so that the pressure of the cold aisle becomes equal to the pressure of the hot aisle, and

wherein the driving the fan at the rotational speed higher than the predetermined rotational speed includes

generating an airflow from the operating servers to the hot aisle, by driving the fan in each of the operating servers at a rotational speed higher than the minimum rotational speed given in the specification, and

cooling the operating servers by the airflow generated by the operating servers.

11. The control method according to claim 1 ,

wherein the fan in each of the operating servers is configured to;

maintain a rotational speed of the fan for cooling a processor at zero, when the operating servers are operating under the first mode and when it is determined that a temperature of the processor is less than a predetermined temperature, and

increase the rotational speed of the fan as the temperature of the processor increases till reaching a maximum speed, when the operating servers are operating under the first mode and when it is determined that the temperature of the processor becomes equal to or more than the predetermined temperature.

12. The control method according to claim 11 ,

wherein the fan in each of the operating servers is configured to

control the fan so that rotational speed of the fan increases as the temperature of the processor increases, when the operating servers are operating under the second mode.