HP BladeSystem Onboard Administrator User Guide - HP Business ...

HP launched Power Capping technology in May of 2007 with iLO version 1.30. This firmware-based
technology limits the average power consumption of the server to a user-defined Watt or Btu/hr goal.
Because this technology runs in firmware, it cannot limit power consumption rapidly enough to ensure
protection of PDU-level circuit breakers. Power Capping does limit power consumption rapidly enough to
protect cooling infrastructure, so it is an effective solution for data centers experiencing cooling capacity
constraints. Power Capping is supported on any ProLiant server or blade that has an iLO management
processor and power measurement capabilities. Using Power Capping requires iLO version 1.30 (or later)
firmware and an updated system ROM/BIOS.
Dynamic Power Capping
Dynamic Power Capping is a hardware-based technology that limits power consumption fast enough to
protect circuit breakers and cooling infrastructure. HP launched Dynamic Power Capping in December of
2008 with iLO version 1.70. Supported servers contain an internal hardware circuit that monitors server
power consumption on a sub-second basis. If server power consumption approaches the power cap limit set
in iLO, the internal hardware circuit limits power consumption rapidly enough to protect PDU-level circuits
from over-subscription and prevent power-related server outages.
Dynamic Power Capping requires specific hardware on the system board. Dynamic Power Capping also
requires iLO version 1.70 (or later) firmware and a system ROM/BIOS dated 10/1/2008 (or later). iLO
automatically updates firmware in the Dynamic Power Capping hardware power circuit.
Enclosure Dynamic Power Capping
EDPC combines the power capping technology of the BladeSystem server with a power balancing control
algorithm in the Onboard Administrator to maximize the aggregate performance of the enclosure. EDPC
protects circuit breakers and maximizes performance.
Use EDPC to set a power cap for the entire enclosure. The Onboard Administrator intelligently allocates
individual limits to each participating server blade. The server blades manage their consumption to that limit.
The Onboard Administrator continuously monitors power consumption requirements for each server blade
and continuously balances the individual limits to ensure that busy server blades receive more power than
idle server blades. This power allocation improves aggregate enclosure performance.
BladeSystem servers should have their power cap set in the Onboard Administrator. EDPC protects both
cooling and electrical infrastructures. EDPC works with either firmware-based power capping technology on
the server or with the fast, hardware-based technology. The EDPC solution performs better if the server blades
that support the fast, hardware-based capping technology are upgraded.
EDPC requires Onboard Administrator 2.30 (or later), iLO version 1.70 (or later), and System ROM/BIOS
dated 10/1/2008 (or later).
EDPC is not supported on non-ProLiant models, storage blades, PCI blades, and servers that are not properly
licensed. These servers are displayed as Unmanageable blades.
NOTE: Power caps set for less than 50% of the difference between maximum power and idle
power might become unreachable due to changes in the server. Power caps set for less than 20%
are not recommended, and might cause the server to reboot or the server operating system to stop
responding.
Enclosure Power Meter screen
The Enclosure Power Meter screen displays peak power use, average power use, and allocated power
available in a graph, which enables fast and easy interpretation of the power situation for the enclosure. The
Configuring the HP BladeSystem c7000 enclosure and enclosure devices 165