Power, Thermal, And Acoustic; Power Efficiency; Thermal - Dell PowerEdge M910 Technical Manual

Dell
5

Power, Thermal, and Acoustic

5.1

Power Efficiency

One of the main features of blade servers is enhanced power efficiency. The Dell™ PowerEdge™ M910
achieves higher power efficiency by implementing the following features:
•
User-configurable power options with the M1000e Chassis Management Controller (CMC)
•
Improved power budgeting
•
Voltage regulator efficiency improvements
•
Processor VR dynamic phase shedding
•
Switching regulators instead of linear regulators
•
Closed-loop thermal throttling
•
Use of DDR3 memory (lower voltage compared to DDR2)
•
Memory VR static phase shedding
•
BIOS Power/Performance options page
•
Active Power Controller (BIOS-based CPU P-state manager)
•
Ability to throttle memory
•
Ability to disable a processor core
•
Ability to turn off embedded NICs or PCIe lanes when not being used
•
Energy Smart components at the M1000e chassis level to selectively enable more computing
performance with less power consumption
5.2

Thermal

The PowerEdge M910 delivers uncompromising computing performance with a robust thermal design
that efficiently manages the server component temperatures. The M910 thermal management
algorithms use as many as 46 thermal sensors to meet the required cooling level while minimizing fan
speeds. The thermal management algorithms also take inventory of the system hardware
configuration while simultaneously monitoring the component temperature sensors throughout the
system to intelligently control system fans and throttle components when needed to maintain
desired power consumption and reliability levels. Closed-loop thermal monitoring of all 32 DIMMs aids
in minimizing chassis fan power. The M910 is designed to maintain full performance across the entire
ambient temperature operating range (10°C to 35°C).
The M910 thermal solution includes:

Optimized airflow impedance for individual blade and chassis level airflow balancing

Custom air baffling directs airflow through the components to maintain proper cooling

Custom designed heat sinks maintain the processor, IOH, and chipset temperatures within
thermal design targets

Highly optimized fan control algorithm

Base fan speeds are a function of hardware configuration and ambient temperature to
minimize airflow for a given environment.

PID control algorithms are used for both processor and DIMMs to maintain appropriate thermal
margin
PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide 19