Management Information Base for Power Control in Computer Networks

The management of the power consumption is an important subject, which is getting attention of several segments in computers industry. Nowadays, the management is accomplished independently, in each machine, without taking into account the network requirements and the other components. This paper presents a Management Information Base (MIB) used to control the energy consumption of a computational equipment network, through the SNMP protocol (Simple Network Management Protocol). In critical situations, as when external power fails, an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) is used, and the rationalization of power consumption allows a better use of the UPS batteries. During normal operation − when there is external power supply, with adequate quality−, the rationalization of the consumption results in the economy of financial resources. The implemented MIB allows to control several equipment, as computers, hubs or switches, and it makes possible the use of the existent personal computers management standards (APM and ACPI) that allow the reduction of energy consumption without turning off the equipment. In the following, initially we introduce some considerations about the SNMP protocol and about the power management standards for personal computers, APM and ACPI. In the sequence, the MIB for power management is presented and analyzed. Some additional considerations finish the paper.