I would like to measure power efficiency in the data center and is looking for a way to measure the power usage on servers. I do not have physical access to the server as it is located in another country, but have full privileges remotely. Is there some way I can get this info via snmp, or by using a deamon etc? I am specifically experimenting with opensource management tools so if this solution can integrate into something like openNMS or similar it will be very useful.
The information provided via an SNMP connection will vary depending on what the manufacture has designed into the server. To see what is available you just need to do a MIB walk on the server. There are many freeware tools available, so just do a search for them. If you already have a NMS, they have this feature built in. The one major problem with the freeware/shareware SNMP tools is the lack of MIB’s so my recommendation is go for one of the name products that will provide you with MIB support, unless you are a MIB programer.
The information that can be obtained via SNMP as I stated will vary, there are no standards here. The most common data provided will be the internal server DC bus voltages (5V, 12V etc). Some servers have provided current or watts so you will be able to see how much power is being consumed by the server. The problem here is that this is the DC bus, not the power into the server. Most servers have a power supply that will convert the ac power supply (100-240V depending on the countries power) to an intermediate DC voltage (12-48V depending on the server). This DC bus is then stepped down via DC to DC converters to provide power to the internal parts on the server and this is the power you are measuring via SNMP. What this means is that any power you measure at this point does not include some major losses in your server.
The best way around this problem is to have SNMP metered power rails installed in your racks, this way you can see how much power each rack is consuming.
The information provided via an SNMP connection will vary depending on what the manufacture has designed into the server. To see what is available you just need to do a MIB walk on the server. There are many freeware tools available, so just do a search for them. If you already have a NMS, they have this feature built in. The one major problem with the freeware/shareware SNMP tools is the lack of MIB’s so my recommendation is go for one of the name products that will provide you with MIB support, unless you are a MIB programer.
The information that can be obtained via SNMP as I stated will vary, there are no standards here. The most common data provided will be the internal server DC bus voltages (5V, 12V etc). Some servers have provided current or watts so you will be able to see how much power is being consumed by the server. The problem here is that this is the DC bus, not the power into the server. Most servers have a power supply that will convert the ac power supply (100-240V depending on the countries power) to an intermediate DC voltage (12-48V depending on the server). This DC bus is then stepped down via DC to DC converters to provide power to the internal parts on the server and this is the power you are measuring via SNMP. What this means is that any power you measure at this point does not include some major losses in your server.
The best way around this problem is to have SNMP metered power rails installed in your racks, this way you can see how much power each rack is consuming.
Hope this helps.
I did nt know abt MIB support system....I ve SNMP tool.. bt due to lack of knowledge didnt use it in a proper way.Thanks for the post.
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The Department of Energy’s DC Pro (which is short for Data Center Energy Profiler) is more verbal, less mathematical.
It asks an IT manager a six-page series of questions ranging from “Do you have premium efficiency motors on all cooling supply fans, pumps, and cooling towers that serve the data center?” to “Are you using virtualization to consolidate your server workloads?”
Measuring power efficiency in the data center
