Hp Dynamic Power Capping - HP AB500A - Integrated Lights-Out Advanced Technology Brief

HP Dynamic Power Capping

Some ProLiant servers support HP Dynamic Power Capping. Dynamic Power Capping uses special
hardware in the server to bring a server experiencing a sudden increase in workload back under its
power cap in less than one-half second. This prevents any surge in power demand that could cause
an enterprise-class circuit breaker to trip. Dynamic Power Capping has been designed and tested to
ensure that it can prevent tripping circuit breakers that have a specified trip time of three seconds or
longer at 50 degrees C and at a 150 percent overload.
To implement Dynamic Power Capping, the iLO 2 management processor works in conjunction with a
power microcontroller to measure and control power consumption. When enforcing the Dynamic
Power Cap, the power microcontroller keeps the processor's power consumption under a specified
cap (see Figure 7). Administrators can set Dynamic Power Caps for individual servers from the iLO 2
user interface when using an iLO 2 Advanced Pack license. Dynamic Power Caps for multiple rack-
mount servers can be set from the power management module within HP Insight Control Environment.
HP Dynamic Power Capping is operating-system independent and functions with all operating systems
and software applications. It will continue to function even if the OS should fail.
Figure 7. A rapid response of Dynamic Power Capping can avoid circuit breaker trips.
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