System and method for improving fan life in an information handling system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10212844-B2
Application number	US-201414310195-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 20, 2014
Priority date	Jun 20, 2014
Publication date	Feb 19, 2019
Grant date	Feb 19, 2019

Abstract

An information handling system includes a first fan in a first location for cooling a first component of the information handling system, a second fan in a second location for cooling a second component of the information handling system, and a management controller. The management controller determines that the first fan has experienced greater stress than the second fan, and recommends that the first fan be placed in the second location and that the second fan be placed in the first location.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An information handling system comprising:
a first fan in a first location for cooling a first component of the information handling system;
a second fan in a second location for cooling a second component of the information handling system; and
a management controller operable to:
determine that the first fan has experienced greater stress than the second fan in the management controller is further operable to determine a first efficiency level of the first fan, and wherein in determining the first efficiency level, the management controller is further operable to turn on the first fan, turn off the second fan, and measure a power level of the first fan; and
recommend that the first fan be placed in the second location and that the second fan be placed in the first location, wherein the first fan is placed in the second location and the second fan is placed in the first location in response to the recommendation.

2. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein:
in determining that the first fan has experienced greater stress than the second fan, the management controller is further operable to:
determine that the first efficiency level is below a threshold efficiency level; and

recommending that the first fan be placed in the second location and that the second fan be placed in the first location is based upon the determination that the first efficiency level is below the threshold efficiency level.

3. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein:
in determining that the first fan has experienced greater stress than the second fan, the management controller is further operable to:
determine a second efficiency level of the second fan; and
determine that the first efficiency level is less than the second efficiency level; and

recommending that the first fan be placed in the second location and that the second fan be placed in the first location is based upon the determination that the first efficiency level is less than the second efficiency level.

4. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein in determining that the first fan has experienced greater stress than the second fan, the management controller is further operable to:
determine a first usage level of the first fan.

5. The information handling system of claim 4 , wherein:
in determining that the first fan has experienced greater stress than the second fan, the management controller is further operable to determine that the first usage level is above a threshold usage level; and
recommending that the first fan be placed in the second location and that the second fan be placed in the first location is based upon the determination that the first usage level is above the threshold usage level.

6. The information handling system of claim 4 , wherein:
in determining that the first fan has experienced greater stress than the second fan, the management controller is further operable to:
determine a second usage level of the second fan; and
determine that the first usage level is greater than the second usage level; and

recommending that the first fan be placed in the second location and that the second fan be placed in the first location is based upon the determination that the first usage level is greater than the second usage level.

7. The information handling system of claim 4 , wherein the first usage level is determined as:

Usage
=

∑
0
N

⁢

(

RPM

60
⁢

sec
min

×

T
Inlet

+

T
Rise

60
⁢
°
⁢

⁢

C
.

)

where N is the time since the fan was new, RPM is a speed of the first fan in revolutions per minute, T Inlet is a temperature at an inlet of the first fan, and TRise is the rise in temperature from the inlet to an exhaust of the first fan.

8. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein the management controller is further operable to:
determine that the first fan has been placed in the second location and that the second fan has been placed in the first location.

9. The information handling system of claim 8 , wherein, in determining that the first fan has been placed in the second location and that the second fan has been placed in the first location, the management controller is further operable to:
determine that the first fan has been removed from the first location;
determine that the second fan has been removed from the second location;
determine that the second fan has been inserted into the first location; and
determine that the first fan has been inserted into the second location.

10. The information handling system of claim 8 , wherein:
the management controller is further operable to:
write first identification information to the first fan; and
write second identification information to the second fan; and

determining that the first fan has been placed in the second location and that the second fan has been placed in the first location is based upon the first identification information and the second identification information.

11. The information handling system of claim 10 , wherein the first identification information includes at least one of a unique identifier for the first fan, an efficiency level of the first fan, and a usage level of the first fan.

12. A method comprising:
turning on, by a management controller of a server, a first fan in a first location of an information handling system;
turning off, by the management controller, a second fan in a second location of the information handling system;
measuring, by the management controller, a first power level of the first fan;
determining, by the management controller, a first efficiency level of the first fan based on the first power level;
determining, by the management controller, a first stress level for the first fan based upon the first efficiency level;
turning on, by the management controller, the second fan;
turning off, by the management controller, the first fan;
measuring, by the management controller, a second power level of the first fan;
determining, by the management controller, a second efficiency level of the second fan based on the second power level;
determining, by the management controller, a second stress level for the second fan based upon the second efficiency level;
determining, by the management controller, that the first stress level is greater than the s

Assignees

• Dell Products Lp

Inventors

• Ragupathi Dinesh K
• Silveira Alaric
• Henry Carlos G
• Dang Thanh Hung
• Shabbir Hasnain

Classifications

• H05K7/20718

  Forced ventilation of a gaseous coolant (in closed loop H05K7/20754) · CPC title

• F04D25/0613

  the electric motor being of the inside-out type, i.e. the rotor is arranged radially outside a central stator · CPC title

• H05K7/20136 Primary

  Forced ventilation, e.g. by fans (H05K7/202 takes precedence) · CPC title

• F04D27/001

  Testing thereof; Determination or simulation of flow characteristics; Stall or surge detection, e.g. condition monitoring · CPC title

• H05K7/20836

  Thermal management, e.g. server temperature control · CPC title