Users Guide

Executing power control operations using web interface
To perform power control operations:
1. In iDRAC web interface, go to Overview → Server → Power/Thermal → Power Configuration →
Power Control. The Power Control page is displayed.
2. Select the required power operation:
• Power On System
• Power Off System
• NMI (Non-Masking Interrupt)
• Graceful Shutdown
• Reset System (warm boot)
• Power Cycle System (cold boot)
3. Click Apply. For more information, see the iDRAC Online Help.
Executing power control operations using RACADM
To perform power actions, use the serveraction command. For more information, see the iDRAC8
RACADM Command Line Interface Reference Guide available at dell.com/idracmanuals.
Power capping
You can view the power threshold limits that covers the range of AC and DC power consumption that a
system under heavy workload presents to the datacenter. This is a licensed feature.
Power capping in Blade servers
Before a blade server in a PowerEdge M1000e or PowerEdge VRTX chassis powers up, iDRAC provides
CMC with its power requirements. It is higher than the actual power that the blade can consume and is
calculated based on limited hardware inventory information. It may request that a smaller power range
after the server is powered up based on the actual power consumed by the server. If the power
consumption increases over time and if the server is consuming power near its maximum allocation,
iDRAC may request an increase of the maximum potential power consumption thus increasing the power
envelope. iDRAC only increases its maximum potential power consumption request to CMC. It does not
request for a lesser minimum potential power if the consumption decreases. iDRAC continues to request
for more power if the power consumption exceeds the power allocated by CMC.
After, the system is powered on and initialized, iDRAC calculates a new power requirement based on the
actual blade configuration. The blade stays powered on even if the CMC fails to allocate new power
request.
CMC reclaims any unused power from lower priority servers and then allocates the reclaimed power to a
higher priority infrastructure module or a server.
If there is not enough power allocated, the blade server does not power on. If the blade has been
allocated enough power, the iDRAC turns on the system power.
Viewing and configuring power cap policy
When power cap policy is enabled, it enforces user-defined power limits for the system. If not, it uses the
hardware power protection policy that is implemented by default. This power protection policy is
197