Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. has announced to develop a virtual machine (VM) control technology in order to improve the server rack mounting density for each datacenter rack. As of now, the number of servers mounted to a rack in data centers is limited by the total rated electrical power of the servers, which is supposed to be less than the power supply of the rack.

 

 

So, with an aim to increase the server mounting density in data centers, Fujitsu’s new technology is going to enable efficient server placement by setting up a partition made up of backup servers in the datacenter. It would also migrate VMs to the backup partition based on the physical distribution and power consumption of the virtual machines.

 

 

 

Virtual Datacenters built with VM management software have physical servers split into theoretical management units called clusters. The physical servers within a cluster can be mounted into different racks with no physical limitations. In the case of a fault or maintenance, VMs are automatically migrated between clusters. However, the physical layout of the servers is not always taken into account.

 

The new technology from Fujitsu prevents racks from exceeding their power supplies. The company is going to build a database related to the physical distribution of servers that provide services as well as the physical distribution of the backup partition that the VMs will be migrated to as it approaches its power supply limits. 

 

After this, the continually changing power usage volume collected from the servers will be linked to their serial number and rack number. This technology allows data center operators to increase the mounting density in the operational partitions, thereby reducing space usage. 

 

The technology also determines the number of servers that should be mounted on a rack by statistically estimating the frequency of migrations for each rack. For example, if the center of the normal distribution is a server load of 30% by installing servers based on a power usage value of 50% load then this would account for 95.5% of changes in load, enabling a maximization of server mounting density. 

Fujitsu is the leading Japanese information and communication technology (ICT) company offering a full range of technology products, solutions and services. Approximately 155,000 Fujitsu people support customers in more than 100 countries. 

Founded in 1968 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Fujitsu Limited, Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. is one of the premier research centers in the world. With a global network of laboratories in Japan, China, the United States and Europe, the organization conducts a wide range of basic and applied research in the areas of Next-generation Services, Computer Servers, Networks, Electronic Devices and Advanced Materials.