Power Management Guide

Performance Tuning Whitepapers

Red Hat Inc.

Don Domingo

Abstract
This document explains how to manage power consumption on Red Hat Enterprise
Linux 5 systems effectively. The following sections discuss different techniques that
lower power consumption (for both server and laptop), and how each technique
affects the overall performance of your system.

1. Importance of Power Management .......................................................................................... 1

2. Power Management Basics ..................................................................................................... 2
3. Using cpufreq Governors ...................................................................................................... 2
3.1. CPUfreq Setup ............................................................................................................. 3
3.2. Tuning CPUfreq Policy and Speed ................................................................................ 4
3.3. CPUfreq Governor Types .............................................................................................. 5
4. Aggressive Link Power Management ....................................................................................... 6

A. Revision History 7

Index 7

1. Importance of Power Management

At the core of power management is an understanding of how to effectively optimize energy
consumption of each system component. This entails studying the different tasks that your system
performs, and configuring each component to ensure that its performance just right for the job.

The main concerns surrounding power management are:

• Heat reduction for servers

• Reducing overall power consumption

• Extending battery life for laptops

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Power Management Guide

As a rule, lowering the power consumption of a specific component (or of the system as a whole)
will lead to lower heat and naturally, performance. As such, you should thoroughly study and test
the decrease in performance afforded by any configurations you make, especially for mission-critical
systems.

The following sections will explain how optimal hardware performance benefits your system in terms of
energy consumption.

2. Power Management Basics

Effective power management is built on the following principles:

An idle CPU should only wake up when needed.

The Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 kernel used a periodic timer for each CPU. This timer prevents the
CPU from truly going idle, as it requirs the CPU to process each timer event (which would happen
every few milliseconds, depending on the setting), regardless of whether any process was running or
not. A large part of effective power management involves reducing the frequency at which CPU wake-
ups are made.

Unused hardware / devices should be disabled completely.

This is especially true for devices that have moving parts (for example, hard disks). In addition to
this, some applications may leave an unused but enabled device “open”; when this occurs, the kernel
assumes that the device is in use, which can prevent the device from going into a power saving state.

Low activity should translate to low wattage.

In many cases, however, such is not the case. For example, the CPU needs to be manually set
configured to use a lower clock frequency during idle times (e.g. after office hours). Not all system
components are intelligent enough to lower power usage / heat emission efficiently during idle times;
the task of configuring a power-efficient system is usually up to you.

Latency-on-wakeup can offset power savings from idle time.

This is especially true for the CPU, which has different states of sleep (C-states), frequency (P-states),
and heat output (T-states or "thermal states"). A CPU running on the lowest sleep state possible
consumes the least amount of watts, but it also takes considerably more power to wake it up from that
state when needed.

3. Using cpufreq Governors

One of the most effective ways to reduce power consumption and heat output on your system is to use
CPUfreq. CPUfreq -- also referred to as CPU speed scaling -- allows the clock speed of the processor
to be adjusted on the fly. This enables the system to run at a reduced clock speed to save power. The
rules for shifting frequencies, whether to a faster or slower clock speed, and when to shift frequencies,
are defined by the CPUfreq governor.

The governor defines the power characteristics of the system CPU, which in turn affects CPU
performance. Each governor has its own unique behavior, purpose, and suitability in terms of
workload. This section describes how to choose and configure a CPUfreq governor, the characteristics
of each governor, and what kind of workload each governor is suitable for.

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 CPUfreq Setup

At the core of power management is an understanding of how to effectively optimize energy

consumption of each system component. This entails studying the different tasks that your system
performs, and configuring each component to ensure that its performance just right for the job.

The main concerns surrounding power management are:

• Heat reduction for servers

• Extending battery life for laptops

As a rule, lowering the power consumption of a specific component (or of the system as a whole)
will lead to lower heat and naturally, performance. As such, you should thoroughly study and test
the decrease in performance afforded by any configurations you make, especially for mission-critical
systems.

The following sections explain how optimal hardware performance benefits your system in terms of
energy consumption.

3.1. CPUfreq Setup

Before selecting and configuring a CPUfreq governor, you need to add the appropriate CPUfreq driver
first.

Procedure 1. How to Add a CPUfreq Driver

1. Use the following command to view which CPUfreq drivers are available for your system:

ls /lib/modules/[kernel version]/kernel/arch/[architecture]/kernel/cpu/
cpufreq/

2. Move to the directory of the CPUfreq drivers.

cd /lib/modules/[kernel version]/kernel/arch/[architecture]/kernel/cpu/
cpufreq/

3. From there, use modprobe to add the appropriate CPUfreq driver.

modprobe [CPUfreq driver]

When using the above command, be sure to remove the .ko filename suffix.

Important
When choosing an appropriate CPUfreq driver, always choose acpi-cpufreq
over p4-clockmod. While using the p4-clockmod driver reduces the clock
frequency of a CPU, it does not reduce the voltage. acpi-cpufreq, on the
other hand, reduces voltage along with CPU clock frequency, allowing less power
consumption and heat output for each unit reduction in performance.

4. Once the CPUfreq driver is set up, you can view which governor the system is currently using
with:

cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_governor

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Power Management Guide

You can also view which governors are available for use for a specific CPU using:

cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/[cpu ID]/cpufreq/scaling_available_governors

Some CPUfreq governors may not be available for you to use. In this case, use modprobe to add the
necessary kernel modules that enable the specific CPUfreq governor you wish to use. These kernel
modules are available in /lib/modules/[kernel version]/kernel/drivers/cpufreq/.

Procedure 2. Enabling a CPUfreq Governor

1. If a specific governor is not listed as available for your CPU, move to the directory of the CPUfreq
drivers:

cd /lib/modules/[kernel version]/kernel/drivers/cpufreq/

2. Use modprobe to enable the governor you wish to use. For example, if the ondemand governor
is not available for your CPU, use the following command:

modprobe cpufreq_ondemand

3. Once a governor is listed as available for your CPU, you can enable it using:

echo [governor] > /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_governor

3.2. Tuning CPUfreq Policy and Speed

Once you've chosen an appropriate CPUfreq governor, you can further tune the speed of each CPU
using the tunables found in /sys/devices/system/cpu/[cpu ID]/cpufreq/. These tunables
are:

• cpuinfo_min_freq — Shows the CPU's available minimum operating frequency (in KHz).

• cpuinfo_max_freq — Shows the CPU's available maximum operating frequency (in KHz).

• scaling_driver — Shows what CPUfreq driver is used to set the frequency on this CPU.

• scaling_available_governors — Shows the CPUfreq governors available in this kernel.

If you wish to use a CPUfreq governor that is not listed in this file, refer to Enabling a CPUfreq
Governor in Section 3.1, “CPUfreq Setup” for instructions on how to do so.

• scaling_governor — Shows what CPUfreq governor is currently in use. To use a different

governor, simply use echo [governor] > /sys/devices/system/cpu/[cpu ID]/
cpufreq/scaling_governor (refer to Enabling a CPUfreq Governor in Section 3.1, “CPUfreq
Setup” for more information).

• cpuinfo_cur_freq — Shows the current speed of the CPU (in KHz).

• scaling_available_frequencies — Lists available frequencies for the CPU, in KHz.

• scaling_min_freq and scaling_max_freq — Sets the policy limits of the CPU, in KHz.

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 CPUfreq Governor Types

Important
When setting policy limits, you should set scaling_max_freq before
scaling_min_freq.

• affected_cpus — Lists CPUs that require frequency coordination software.

• scaling_setspeed — Used to change the clock speed of the CPU, in KHz. You can only set a
speed within the policy limits of the CPU (as per scaling_min_freq and scaling_max_freq).

To view the current value of each tunable, use cat [tunable]. For example, to view the current
speed of cpu0 (in KHz), use:

cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/cpuinfo_cur_freq.

To change the value of each tunable, use echo [value] > /sys/devices/system/cpu/[cpu
ID]/cpufreq/[tunable]. For example, to set the minimum clock speed of cpu0 to 360 KHz, use:

echo 360000 > /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_min_freq

3.3. CPUfreq Governor Types

This section lists and describes the different types of CPUfreq governors available in Red Hat
Enterprise Linux 5.

cpufreq_performance
The Performance governor forces the CPU to use the highest possible clock frequency. This
frequency will be statically set, and will not change. As such, this particular governor offers no power
saving benefit. It is only suitable for hours of heavy workload, and even then only during times wherein
the CPU is rarely (or never) idle.

cpufreq_powersave
By contrast, the Powersave governor forces the CPU to use the lowest possible clock frequency. This
frequency will be statically set, and will not change. As such, this particular governor offers maximum
power savings, but at the cost of the lowest CPU performance.

The term "powersave" can sometimes be decieving, though, since (in principle) a slow CPU on full
load consumes more power than a fast CPU that is not loaded. As such, while it may be advisable to
set the CPU to use the Powersave governor during times of expected low activity, any unexpected
high loads during that time can cause the system to actually consume more power.

The Powersave governor is, in simple terms, more of a "speed limiter" for the CPU than a "power
saver". It is most useful in systems and environments where overheating can be a problem.

cpufreq_ondemand
The Ondemand governor is a dynamic governor that allows the CPU to achieve maximum clock
frequency when system load is high, and also minimum clock frequency when the system is idle.
While this allows the system to adjust power consumption accordingly with respect to system load,

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Power Management Guide

it does so at the expense of latency between frequency switching. As such, latency can offset any
performance/power saving benefits offered by the Ondemand governor if the system switches
between idle and heavy workloads too often.

For most systems, the Ondemand governor can provide the best compromise between heat emission,
power consumption, performance, and manageability. When the system is only busy at specific
times of the day, the Ondemand governor will automatically switch between maximum and minimum
frequency depending on the load without any further intervention.

cpufreq_userspace
The Userspace governor allows userspace programs (or any process running as root) to set the
frequency. This governor is normally used in conjunction with the cpuspeed daemon. Of all the
governors, Userspace is the most customizable; and depending on how it is configured, it can offer the
best balance between performance and consumption for your system.

cpufreq_conservative
Like the Ondemand governor, the Conservative governor also adjusts the clock frequency according
to usage (like the Ondemand governor). However, while the Ondemand governor does so in a more
aggressive manner (i.e. from maximum to minimum and back), the Conservative governor switches
between frequencies more gradually.

This means that the Conservative governor will adjust to a clock frequency that it deems fitting for the
load, rather than simply choosing between maximum and minimum. While this can possibly provide
significant savings in power consumption, it does so at an ever greater latency than the Ondemand
governor.

Note
You can enable a governor using cron jobs. This allows you to automatically set
specific governors during specific times of the day. As such, you can specify a low-
frequency governor during idle times (e.g. after work hours) and return to a higher-
frequency governor during hours of heavy workload.

For instructions on how to enable a specific governor, refer to Enabling a CPUfreq

Governor in Section 3.1, “CPUfreq Setup”.

4. Aggressive Link Power Management

Aggressive Link Power Management (ALPM) is a power-saving technique that helps the disk save
power by setting a SATA link to the disk to a low-power setting during idle time (i.e. when there is
no I/O). ALPM automatically sets the SATA link back to an active power state once I/O requests are
queued to that link.

Power savings introduced by ALPM come at the expense of disk latency. As such, you should only
use ALPM if you expect the system to experience long periods of idle I/O time.

ALPM is only available on SATA controllers that use the Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI).
For more information about AHCI, refer to http://1www.intel.com/1technology/1serialata/1ahci.htm.

When available, ALPM is enabled by default. ALPM has three modes:

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 Revision History

min_power
This mode sets the link to its lowest power state (SLUMBER) when there is no I/O on the disk. This
mode is useful for times when an extended period of idle time is expected.

medium_power
This mode sets the link to the second lowest power state (PARTIAL) when there is no I/O on the disk.
This mode is designed to allow transitions in link power states (e.g. during times of intermittent heavy
I/O and idle I/O) with as small impact on performance as possible.

medium_power mode allows the link to transition between PARTIAL and fully-powered (i.e.
"ACTIVE") states, depending on the load. Note that it is not possible to transition a link directly from
PARTIAL to SLUMBER and back; in this case, either power state cannot transition to the other without
transitioning through the ACTIVE state first.

max_performance
ALPM is disabled; the link does not enter any low-power state when there is no I/O on the disk.

Warning
Setting ALPM to min_power or medium_power will automatically disable the "Hot
Plug" feature.

A. Revision History
Revision History
Revision 1.0 [email protected]
updated to build on Publican 0.36

Index
A
acpi-cpufreq
CPUfreq
setup, 3
adding a driver
CPUfreq
setup, 3
adding a governor
CPUfreq
setup, 4
Advanced Host Controller Interface
Aggressive Link Power Management, 6
affected_cpus
CPUfreq
tuning, 5
Aggressive Link Power Management

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Power Management Guide

Advanced Host Controller Interface, 6

AHCI, 6
ALPM, 6
hot-plug, 7
max_performance, 7
medium_power, 7
min_power, 7
PARTIAL, 7
SATA-AHCI, 6
SLUMBER, 7
AHCI
Aggressive Link Power Management, 6
ALPM
Aggressive Link Power Management, 6

B
basics
power management, 2
principles behind, 2

C
concerns surrounding power management
CPUfreq
governors, 3
Conservative governor
CPUfreq
governor types, 6
CPUfreq, 2, 3, 4
cron, 6
governor types, 5
Conservative governor, 6
cpufreq_conservative, 6
cpufreq_ondemand, 5
cpufreq_performance, 5
cpufreq_powersave, 5
cpufreq_userspace, 6
Ondemand governor, 5
Performance governor, 5
Powersave governor, 5
Userspace governor, 6
governors, 2
concerns surrounding power management, 3
definition, 2
setup, 3
acpi-cpufreq, 3
adding a driver, 3
adding a governor, 4
enabling a governor, 4
modprobe, 4
p4-clockmod, 3
selecting a driver, 3

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 Revision History

tuning, 4
affected_cpus, 5
cpuinfo_cur_freq, 4
cpuinfo_max_freq, 4
cpuinfo_min_freq, 4
policy, 4
policy limits, 5
scaling_available_frequencies, 4
scaling_available_governors, 4
scaling_driver, 4
scaling_governor, 4
scaling_min_freq, 4
scaling_setspeed, 5
types of governors, 5
cpufreq_conservative
CPUfreq
governor types, 6
cpufreq_ondemand
CPUfreq
governor types, 5
cpufreq_performance
CPUfreq
governor types, 5
cpufreq_powersave
CPUfreq
governor types, 5
cpufreq_userspace
CPUfreq
governor types, 6
cpuinfo_cur_freq
CPUfreq
tuning, 4
cpuinfo_max_freq
CPUfreq
tuning, 4
cpuinfo_min_freq
CPUfreq
tuning, 4
cron
CPUfreq, 6
scheduled governor switching, 6

D
definition
CPUfreq
governors, 2

E
enabling a governor
CPUfreq
setup, 4

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Power Management Guide

G
governor types
CPUfreq, 5
Conservative governor, 6
cpufreq_conservative, 6
cpufreq_ondemand, 5
cpufreq_performance, 5
cpufreq_powersave, 5
cpufreq_userspace, 6
Ondemand governor, 5
Performance governor, 5
Powersave governor, 5
Userspace governor, 6
governors
CPUfreq, 2
concerns surrounding power management, 3
definition, 2

H
hot-plug
Aggressive Link Power Management, 7

I
importance
power management, 1

M
max_performance
Aggressive Link Power Management, 7
medium_power
Aggressive Link Power Management, 7
min_power
Aggressive Link Power Management, 7
modprobe
CPUfreq
setup, 4

O
Ondemand governor
CPUfreq
governor types, 5

P
p4-clockmod
CPUfreq
setup, 3
PARTIAL
Aggressive Link Power Management, 7
Performance governor
CPUfreq

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 Revision History

governor types, 5
policy
CPUfreq
tuning, 4
policy limits
CPUfreq
tuning, 5
power management
basics, 2
importance, 1
Powersave governor
CPUfreq
governor types, 5
principles behind
basics, 2

S
SATA-AHCI
Aggressive Link Power Management, 6
scaling_available_frequencies
CPUfreq
tuning, 4
scaling_available_governors
CPUfreq
tuning, 4
scaling_driver
CPUfreq
tuning, 4
scaling_governor
CPUfreq
tuning, 4
scaling_min_freq
CPUfreq
tuning, 4
scaling_setspeed
CPUfreq
tuning, 5
scheduled governor switching
cron, 6
selecting a driver
CPUfreq
setup, 3
setup
CPUfreq, 3
acpi-cpufreq, 3
adding a driver, 3
adding a governor, 4
enabling a governor, 4
modprobe, 4
p4-clockmod, 3
selecting a driver, 3

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Power Management Guide

SLUMBER
Aggressive Link Power Management, 7

T
tuning
CPUfreq, 4
affected_cpus, 5
cpuinfo_cur_freq, 4
cpuinfo_max_freq, 4
cpuinfo_min_freq, 4
policy, 4
policy limits, 5
scaling_available_frequencies, 4
scaling_available_governors, 4
scaling_driver, 4
scaling_governor, 4
scaling_min_freq, 4
scaling_setspeed, 5
types of governors
CPUfreq, 5

U
Userspace governor
CPUfreq
governor types, 6

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