Recommendations for Power Budgeting with Windows Server

Updated: July 15, 2008
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Recommendations for Power Budgeting with Windows Server

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Updated: Jul 10, 2008
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Inefficient allocation of power and cooling resources in data centers can result in unused power capacity. This increases costs and artificially limits the number of servers that can be deployed. To address the overallocation of power budgets, many server vendors have introduced power management solutions that try to enable the capping of power consumption on a per-machine basis to reduce the unused capacity. However, some of these solutions can have negative or unintended consequences when they overlap, conflict, or otherwise interfere with the power management capabilities that are supported in Windows Server operating systems.

This paper summarizes common approaches to power budgeting in the server marketplace and recommends best practices to ensure that these solutions work as intended and interoperate with Windows Server power management capabilities. The information in this paper is intended for product planners, developers, and system designers.

This information applies for the following operating systems:
Windows Server 2008
Windows Server 2003

Included in this white paper:

Introduction

Limitations of Current Solutions

Throttling Mechanisms

Adjusting Windows Power Policy

Using ACPI Notifications

Using CPU Platform Thermal Control Circuits

Combining Power Throttling Mechanisms

Windows Processor Throttling Policies

Dynamic Processor Throttling Policies on Windows Server 2003

Processor Performance States on Windows Server 2008

Best Practices and Recommendations


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