This software development tool kit allows companies to build software to
manage  or cap power consumption by individual servers or a group of
servers, which  could reduce energy costs in data centers, Intel said. The
company isn't  providing end-user software, just a tool kit to build it.

The Data Center Manager (DCM) middleware built from the tool kit could
dynamically adapt power consumption by servers based on changing workloads
and  power needs, said Jon Khazam, vice president and general manager at
Intel's  manageability and middleware division. DCM can be attached to
existing system  management software as an console or as a Web service,
Khazam said.

Power consumption is provisioned by DCM through communication with Intel's
Intelligent Power Node Manager software tool installed on the chipset of
each  server. The middleware instructs Node Manager to set power limits for
servers  based on the level of activity. For example, DCM can cap power
consumption on  inactive servers while raising the power bar on active
servers.

The tool is designed for use on servers running Intel's Xeon 5500 chips,
which  include motherboards with the Node Manager software. The software
tool kit  won't work effectively with servers based on old Intel chips as
they don't have  the necessary thermal management capabilities built in,
Khazam said. Nor will  the software tool kit work with proprietary power
management tools from  companies like IBM and Hewlett-Packard.

Though HP offers Xeon 5500 chips in many of its servers, it has included
its  own power management technology to manage and cap power consumption.
HP has  included 32 sensors in some servers that can track and dynamically
reduce  server power consumption. Sensors measure thermal activity of
components like  fans, and algorithms use the data to adjust operation of
the components to cool  systems more efficiently.

To use the DCM middleware, users many need to get rid of the old power
management tools, Khazam said. Software built using the DCM tool kit can
manage  up to 1,000 servers, but the number will be expanded in the future.

Intel didn't reveal pricing for the tool kit, saying it depended on
customers  and server installations.

Intel officials in February said that power consumption and cooling
accounts  for up to 23 percent of server deployments, and is one of the
biggest areas for  companies to cut costs. Intel is taking steps on the
software and hardware  front to help cut energy costs.

It has introduced new motherboards with voltage regulations that reduce
power  drawn to 85 watts in idle when running cloud computing applications,
compared  to 115 watts for standard Nehalem-based boards. A reduction of 30
watts per  server could save up to US$8 million in three years in a
deployment of 50,000  servers, Intel has said.

The company is also providing software tools like compilers and debuggers
to  improve performance and analyze software code. Optimizing the code
helps  execute tasks more quickly and efficiently while using fewer system
resources.  That could save up $20 million over three years in a 50,000
server deployment,  the company has said.