Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller 7 (iDRAC7) Version 1.50.50 User's Guide

Before a blade server powers up, iDRAC7 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 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, iDRAC7 may request an increase of the maximum potential power consumption thus increasing the power envelope. iDRAC7 only increases its maximum potential power consumption request to CMC. It does not request for a lesser minimum potential power if the consumption decreases. iDRAC7 continues to request for more power if the power consumption exceeds the power allocated by CMC.

After, the system is powered on and initialized, iDRAC7 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 subsequently 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 iDRAC7 turns on the system power.