The POWER7 processor is the newest member of the IBM POWERÃÂî family of server processors. With greater than 4X the peak performance and the same power budget as the previous generation POWER6ÃÂî, POWER7 will deliver impressive energy-efficiency boosts. The improved peak energy-efficiency is accompanied by a wide array of new features in the processor and system designs that advance IBM's EnergyScaleÃÂÿ dynamic power management methodology. This paper provides an overview of these new features, which include better sensing, more advanced power controls, improved scalability for power management, and features to address the diverse needs of the full range of POWER servers from blades to supercomputers. We also highlight three challenges that need attention from a range of systems design and research teams: (i) power management in highly virtualized environments, (ii) power (in)efficiency of systems software and applications, and (iii) memory power costs, especially for servers with large memory footprints.
展开▼
机译：POWER7处理器是IBM POWER ® 服务器处理器家族的最新成员。与上一代POWER6相比，POWER7的峰值性能高出4倍，并且功率预算相同，POWER7将带来令人印象深刻的能源效率提升。更高的峰值能效伴随着处理器和系统设计中的一系列新功能，这些功能推动了IBM的EnergyScale™动态电源管理方法的发展。本文概述了这些新功能，包括更好的传感，更高级的电源控制，改进的电源管理可扩展性，以及满足从刀片到超级计算机的各种POWER服务器的多样化需求的功能。我们还重点介绍了一系列系统设计和研究团队需要注意的三个挑战：（i）高度虚拟化环境中的电源管理，（ii）电源（系统软件和应用程序的效率低下），以及（iii）内存电源成本，特别是对于具有大内存占用的服务器。
展开▼
