Project Proposed: The project, building an instrument for next generation data centers where energy consumption and management is treated as a first class resource (together with CPU, communications, etc) that needs to be scheduled and managed explicitly to maximize the overall energy-efficiency of the data center, takes a new approach for predicting local and global thermal conditions with new control paradigms. Studying the most energy-efficient use of the cooling resources, the proposed instrument specifically involves: - Experimental, scaled down data center of Linux servers with dynamic cooling facilities, modified kernels. and scheduling components; - Large number of temperature and airflow sensors and power meters, along with software instrumentation; - Floor plenum based chilled air cooling system used to provide nominal cooling and remotely controlled computer room air conditioners (CRACs) that provide a quickly adjustable and directed cooling facility; - Software components for the facility that permit research into the development of a wide variety of techniques, both traditional and innovative, for improving the data center energy efficiency; and - Generation and recording live data on workload levels, power consumption, temperature, and airflow distributions. Broader Impacts: This unique facility primarily provides solutions for energy efficiency in data centers. The project intensively involves minority, women, and undergraduate students in their research. The instrument contributes to prepare all students for rewarding careers in the technology, management, and use of data centers.
