Autonomous monitoring of data centre operations

我们社会的计算需求，其中大部分是在数据中心（dc）完成的，每五年翻一番。然而，尽管它们的生产率不断提高，数据中心仍然充满了(1)建立的高资本成本，以及(2)由于低效的能源使用而导致的高运营成本。由于运营商无法实时了解设施内各种组件的性能指标（例如利用率和能耗）或健康状况（例如即将发生的故障和故障指标），因此行业普遍存在过度设计和过度配置的做法，从而导致了高成本。实现实时可见性的主要瓶颈是每个设施由数千个组件组成，这些组件因供应商、设计和操作原则而异。在此，我们将开发三种使能技术，以实现以最少的人为干预监测直流运行的通用平台，即：(1)廉价的监测硬件模块，可以记录和无线传输直流中各种组件的健康状况和性能指标，(2)用于监测数据和命令实时通信的无线网络协议，(3)基于实时数据采集和高效热模拟的全自动监测和诊断算法。这些技术将使数据中心运营商能够(1)自适应优化其运营，(2)预测和触发维护工作，以最大限度地减少服务中断。这些技术将由我们的合作伙伴Cinnos Mission Critical Incorporated （CMCI, www.cinnos.com）转化为整体数据中心基础设施管理（DCIM）产品线，这是一家快速发展的年轻加拿大公司。CMCI将与我们协同努力，与主要客户进行广泛的beta测试，并提供有价值的反馈，以引导技术开发实现最大的商业影响。除了为我们的行业合作伙伴创造就业机会和新的收入来源外，一个自然而值得注意的结果是DCs能耗的显著降低，DCs占全球能源生产的约3%。

The computing needs of our society, much of these performed in data centres (DCs), double every five years. However, despite their increasing productivity, DCs are fraught with (1) high capital costs for establishment, and (2) high operating costs due to inefficient energy usage. The high costs arise from the widespread industry practice of over-design and over-provisioning stemmed from the fact that operators do not have real-time visibility of the metrics of performance, e.g., utilization percentage and energy consumption, or health conditions, e.g., indicators for imminent faults and failures, of the various components within their facilities. The primary bottleneck in enabling real-time visibility is that each facility consists of thousands of components, which differ by vendors, design and operating principles. Herein, we will develop three enabling technologies towards a universal platform for monitoring DC operations with minimal human intervention, namely, (1) inexpensive monitoring hardware modules that can record and wirelessly transmit health conditions and performance metrics of various components in a DC, (2) wireless networking protocols for real-time communications of monitoring data and commands, (3) algorithms for fully autonomous monitoring and diagnosis enabled by the real-time data collected and computational efficient thermal modelling. These technologies will allow DC operators to (1) adaptively optimize its operations, and (2) predict and trigger maintenance efforts to minimize service interruptions. The technologies will be translated into a holistic data centre infrastructure management (DCIM) product line by our partner, Cinnos Mission Critical Incorporated (CMCI, www.cinnos.com), a fast growing young Canadian company. CMCI will perform extensive beta testing with lead customers synergistically with our efforts, and provide valuable feedback to steer the technology development towards maximum commercial impact. In addition to creating jobs and new sources of revenue for our industry partner, a natural and noteworthy consequence is the significant reduction in energy consumption of DCs, which account for ~3% of the energy produced worldwide.