Methods and systems for managing facility power and cooling

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for determining data center resource requirements, such as cooling and power requirements, and for monitoring performance of data center resource systems, such as cooling and power systems, in data centers. At least one aspect provides a system and method that enables a data center operator to determine available data center resources, such as power and cooling, at specific areas and enclosures in a data center to assist in locating new equipment in the data center.

1 . A computer-implemented method for providing a representation of capacity of a data center resource, the method comprising acts of:
 determining an first indication of excess capacity of a first data center resource that is unusable due to insufficient capacity of at least one other data center resource associated with the first data center resource; and   providing the first indication of excess capacity of the first data center resource to an external entity.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the act of determining the first indication of excess capacity includes an act of determining an amount of excess capacity of the first data center resource that is unusable due to insufficient capacity of the at least one other data center resource associated with the first data center resource. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the act of determining the first indication of excess capacity includes an act of determining an indication of excess capacity at a location in a rack. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 3 , wherein the act of determining the first indication of excess capacity at the location in the rack includes an act of determining an indication of excess capacity at a U space position. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the act of determining the first indication of excess capacity includes an act of determining an indication of excess capacity of rack space that is unusable due to insufficient capacity of power. 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the act of determining the first indication of excess capacity includes an act of determining an indication of excess capacity of power that is unusable due to insufficient capacity of cooling. 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the act of determining the first indication of excess capacity includes an act of determining an indication of excess capacity of power distribution that is unusable due to insufficient capacity of power available for distribution. 
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the act of determining the first indication of excess capacity includes an act of determining an indication of excess capacity of physical space that is unusable due to insufficient capacity of cooling. 
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the act of determining the first indication of excess capacity includes an act of determining an indication of excess capacity of power distribution that is unusable due to insufficient capacity of network connectivity. 
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the act of determining the first indication of excess capacity includes an act of determining an indication of excess capacity of U space that is unusable due to insufficient capacity of weight support. 
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the act of providing the first indication of excess capacity includes an act of providing the indication to another system element. 
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the act of providing the first indication of excess capacity includes an act of presenting the first indication to a user of a computer system. 
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 12 , wherein the act of presenting the first indication to the user of the computer system includes an act of presenting, to the user of the computer system, an amount of excess capacity of the first data center resource that is unusable due to insufficient capacity of the at least one other data center resource associated with the first data center resource. 
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 13 , wherein the act of presenting, to the user of the computer system, the amount of excess capacity includes acts of:
 presenting, to the user of the computer system, an identifier that identifies the first data center resource; and   presenting, to the user of the computer system, an identifier that identifies the at least one other data center resource.   
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining a configuration of data center equipment that minimizes, relative to at least one other configuration, the excess capacity of the first data center resource; and   providing the configuration of data center equipment to an external entity.   
     
     
         16 . The method according to  claim 15 , wherein determining the configuration of data center equipment includes determining a location for at least one element of data center equipment. 
     
     
         17 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining a second indication of excess capacity of a second data center resource that is unusable due to insufficient capacity of at least one other data center resource associated with the second data center resource;   determining a configuration of data center equipment that minimizes, relative to at least one other configuration, an aggregate of the first indication and the second indication; and   providing the configuration of data center equipment to an external entity.   
     
     
         18 . A computer-implemented method for providing a representation of a data center resource, the method comprising acts of:
 determining a status of capacity for the data center resource provided to either a rack or a location in a rack; and   providing the status to an external entity.   
     
     
         19 . The method according to  claim 18 , wherein determining the status of capacity for the data center resource includes determining a status for the data center resource provided to a U space position. 
     
     
         20 . The method according to  claim 18 , wherein the act of determining the status of capacity for the data center resource includes an act of determining a status of capacity of power. 
     
     
         21 . The method according to  claim 18 , wherein the act of determining the status of capacity for the data center resource includes an act of determining a status of capacity of cooling. 
     
     
         22 . The method according to  claim 18 , wherein the act of determining the status of capacity for the data center resource includes an act of determining a status of capacity of physical space. 
     
     
         23 . The method according to  claim 18 , wherein the act of determining the status of capacity for the data center resource includes an act of determining a status of capacity of weight support. 
     
     
         24 . The method according to  claim 18 , wherein the act of determining the status of capacity for the data center resource includes an act of determining a status of available capacity. 
     
     
         25 . The method according to  claim 18 , wherein the act of determining the status of capacity for the data center resource includes an act of determining a status of utilized capacity. 
     
     
         26 . A computer-implemented method for providing a representation of a data center resource, the method comprising the acts of:
 determining a rate of change of a utilized capacity of the data center resource based at least in part on changes to a data center configuration; and   providing a predicted utilization of the data center resource based at least in part on the rate of change.   
     
     
         27 . The method according to  claim 26 , wherein determining the rate of change of utilized capacity of the data center resource includes determining the rate of change using linear regression. 
     
     
         28 . The method according to  claim 26 , wherein the data center resource includes power. 
     
     
         29 . The method according to  claim 26 , wherein the data center resource includes cooling. 
     
     
         30 . A system for providing a representation of a capacity of data center resource, the system comprising:
 an input configured to receive a capacity of a first data center resource and a capacity of at least one other data center resource;   an output configured to provide an amount of excess capacity of the first data center resource; and   a controller coupled to the input and the output and configured to determine an amount of excess capacity of the first data center resource that is unusable due to insufficient capacity of the at least one other data center resource.   
     
     
         31 . A system for providing a representation of a data center resource, the system comprising:
 an input configured to receive capacity information for a data center resource;   an output configured to provide a status of capacity for the data center resource; and   a controller coupled to the input and the output and configured to determine the status of capacity for the data center resource at either a rack or a location in a rack.   
     
     
         32 . A system for providing an evaluation of a data center resource, the system comprising:
 an input configured to receive changes in a data center configuration;   an output configured to provide a predicted utilization of the data center resource based on a rate of change of utilized capacity of the data center resource; and   a controller configured to determine the rate of change of the utilized capacity of the data center resource based on the changes in a data center configuration.