HP ProLiant DL288 ISS Technology Update Volume 8, Number 1 - Page 5

ISS Technology Update Volume 8, Number 1 What is your most interesting research or invention? David: My personal favorite was an invention that required a system level understanding of a problem that spanned multiple disciplines, as well as the creativity to develop a comprehensive solution. During the late 1990s, ISS was developing a 32processor, cache-coherent, Non-Uniform Memory Architecture (NUMA) server. I realized from looking at multiprocessor CPU traces, OS CPU scheduling, and simulation model results, that the system performance could be improved if the memory for a process/thread was located closest (in access time) to the CPU that was executing the code. But this required two crucial additions to the server and OS. First, it required that the server's CPU, cache, and bus topology and memory latencies of the boot configuration needed to be mapped or described for the OS to use. Secondly, the OS would have to make memory allocation and processes/thread scheduling decisions based on the proximity of memory to the CPU. So, I wrote an invention disclosure on how this should be done (Patent #7,143,412). Due to the HP merger, Compaq-ISS did not build that 32-processor system, but interestingly, IBM filed a patent claim on the first half of my invention covering the CPU-Memory mapping just 1 month prior to Compaq filing my patent. Therefore, the US PTO only granted me a patent claim on the second half, which described how to use those relationships in the OS scheduler and Page Fault manager for CPU-thread execution and memory allocation. How much customer input goes into the design of your products? Wayne: In the last year, David has made a point of visiting a variety of customer data centers with a goal of understanding how they use networking and the nature of their unresolved problems. David: Knowledge is power, so I find customer input extremely valuable in the design of products. Engineering groups rely on, and benefit from, customer trip reports and the dissemination of customers' technical problems. I believe that if ISS disburses more of this information to engineering groups, the increased knowledge of customer problems will help power even more HP innovation. In your area of expertise, what technologies demonstrate HP leadership? David: HP has been concerned about server power consumption, capacity, and energy efficiency for several years. ISS recently introduced Dynamic Power Capping to manage the maximum power consumed by a group of servers in racks and blade chassis. We'll continue to develop more technologies and push for more energy efficient CPUs, memory, disk drives, power supplies and networking components to minimize the operating and infrastructure cost required to power and cool our servers. 5