Abstract: Systems and methods for managing airflow for cooling computing devices (e.g. in a data center) in normal and cold environments are disclosed. In one embodiment, the method comprises positioning the computing devices on a plurality of racks with air barriers to create hot and cold aisles. The computing devices may be configured in a first mode to draw in cool air the cold aisles and exhaust heated air into the hot aisles. Temperatures in the cold aisles may be periodically measured. In response to temperatures below a predetermined threshold, one or more of the cold aisles may be converted into a temporary hot aisle by adjusting ventilation openings and configuring a subset of the computing devices to temporarily draw in warm air from the temporary hot aisle.

Abstract: A system and method for using waste heat from computing devices is disclosed. Computing devices may be positioned in a device rack and output exhaust air such that heat is transferred into a heat chamber with controllable temperature and a work item rack that is configured to hold one or more work items. By transferring the heat from the computing devices to heat or preheat the heat chamber, the captured heat can be used for useful work such as dehydrating, baking, drying or curing. Humidity can also be controlled, and conveyors may be used to improve the flow of work items. The energy reused may be calculated, recorded and attributed to the work items processed or the work performed by the computing devices.

Abstract: A system and method for recapturing waste heat from computing devices are disclosed. The system includes at least one computing device, a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) unit, an exhaust duct leading from the computing device to the HVAC unit, a bypass duct fluidly connected to the exhaust duct for bypassing the HVAC unit, a control valve disposed in the exhaust duct, and a controller operatively connected to the control valve. The control valve is switchable between an open position where a flow of exhaust air is sent to the HVAC unit, and a closed position where the flow of exhaust air is redirected to the bypass duct.

Abstract: A method for automated switching of workloads on computing devices to increase returns such as rewards or transaction fees in a cryptocurrency blockchain network is disclosed. A plurality of signals impacting the profitability of mining for a plurality of different cryptocurrencies and plurality of different mining pools are monitored. In response to the plurality of signals indicating a different cryptocurrency and mining pool combination is more profitable, the computing device workload is automatically switched. Switching cost may be calculated and used to prevent unprofitable switches. The signals may be used to train a machine learning model that may be used to predict future profitability for automatic switching.

Abstract: A heat sink for cooling computing devices such as in a data center is disclosed. The heat sink includes a plurality of fin stages arranged in spaced relation between an intake side and an exhaust side. The plurality of fin stages have a height that increases from the intake side to the exhaust side.

Abstract: A rack and system for cooling computing devices such as in a data center is disclosed. In one embodiment, the rack supports a plurality of computing devices and comprises a plurality of planar annular sector or trapezoidal shelves, each having one or more positions for holding computing devices. A number of vertical supports may hold the shelves in a vertically spaced arrangement, and an air barrier may be affixed to the rack. The air barrier may have openings for the computing devices to permit exhaust air to flow through the air barrier into a hot aisle. The rack maybe configured to be connected to other similar racks to form a vertical annular hyperboloid or a vertical hyperbolic annular paraboloid, and the computing devices may be installed to discharge exhaust at an angle relative to a centerline of the vertical annular hyperboloid or a vertical hyperbolic annular paraboloid to improve airflow.

Abstract: An adjustable cooling duct for improved facility (e.g., data center) cooling is disclosed. In one embodiment, the cooling duct comprises a cylindrical flexible membrane (e.g., fabric) having a first annular end and a second annular end, and a cincture mechanism connected around the perimeter of the cylindrical flexible membrane between the first annular end and the second annular end. The cincture mechanism may be motorized and that may be controlled by a management computer based on pressure sensor readings. The cincture mechanisms may be automated for coordinated control of multiple ducts in parallel by the management computer based on environmental sensor readings to improve facility cooling.

Abstract: A rack and system for cooling computing devices such as in a data center is disclosed. In one embodiment, the rack supports a plurality of computing devices and comprises a plurality of planar annular sector or trapezoidal shelves, each having one or more positions for holding computing devices. A number of vertical supports may hold the shelves in a vertically spaced arrangement, and an air barrier may be affixed to the rack and have openings that permit exhaust air to flow from the computing devices through the air barrier into a hot aisle. The rack may be configured to be connected to other similar racks to form a vertical annular cylinder, which may be tapered, and the computing devices may be installed to discharge exhaust at an angle relative to a centerline of the vertical annular cylinder to improve airflow.

Abstract: A rack and system for cooling computing devices such as in a data center is disclosed. In one embodiment, the rack supports computing devices and comprises planar annular sector or trapezoidal shelves, each having one or more positions for holding computing devices. The rack may be configured to be connected to other similar racks to form a vertical geometric prism or annular cylinder, which may be tapered, and the computing devices may be installed to discharge exhaust at an angle. A number of vertical supports may hold the shelves in a vertically spaced arrangement to from a helix within the prism or cylinder. An air barrier may be affixed to the rack and have openings permitting exhaust air to flow from the computing devices through the air barrier. The helix formed by the shelves may channel the airflow generated by the computing devices into a vortex to improve cooling.

Abstract: A system and method for efficient (e.g., economical) computing in hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and electric vehicles is disclosed. A compute manager is configured to receive and schedule compute tasks for execution on computing cores in the vehicle to increase the usage of recaptured energy that would otherwise be wasted due to battery limitations. Vehicle status information such as current battery charge level and current route may be used to determine whether compute tasks can be beneficially executed.

Abstract: A system and method for easily managing a data center with multiple computing devices such as cryptocurrency miners from different manufactures is disclosed. A first computer includes a management application to manage the selected computing devices and periodically read and store status information from them into a database. Controls are presented to enable selection of one or more of the devices and to apply an operating mode, including manual, semi-automatic, automatic, and intelligent modes. Machine learning may be used to determine recommended settings for the selected set of computing devices.

Abstract: A system and method for managing large numbers of computing devices in a data center are disclosed. The computing devices are configured to flash their indicator lights in a pattern that encodes a device ID, and an image capture device such as a mobile phone or tablet captures the flashes in a series of images/video of the data center. The images/video are processed to create a three-dimensional (3D) model of the data center with computing device IDs positioned therein. The 3D model, including correctly positioned device ID indicators, can be rendered for the user of the mobile device to enable the user to more easily identify computing device locations.

Abstract: Systems and methods for cooling large numbers of computing devices in a data center are disclosed. The devices are positioned on shelves in racks and are connected via network switches. The computing devices are oriented so that their cooling fans all exhaust waste heat to one side of the rack into a hot aisle, and each position is offset from positions on neighboring shelves above and below the current shelf. The racks can be offset, or the positions within the racks can be offset. Each computing device on the rack can also be angled horizontally and or vertically to improve airflow. Multiple racks can be configured together into sloped regular polygons, with the interior forming the hot aisle, and deflectors can be installed to further improve airflow.

Abstract: An improved system and method for characterizing application performance are disclosed. The system may comprise a profiling module and a web service module. The profiling module may be configured to prompt the user to select a public mode or a private mode and specify software and hardware targets for profiling. Test results from profiling may be combined with historical data obtained from a web service module providing access to a database of historical profiling test results to create recommendations for improving performance. The profiling module may upload the test-generated data in public mode to the web service module for use in future execution cycles or keep them private if in private mode.

Abstract: A management device for managing a plurality of computing devices in a data center may comprise a network interface, a first module that periodically sends health status queries to the computing devices via the network interface, a second module configured to receive responses to the health status queries and collect and store health status data for the computing devices, a third module configured to create support tickets, and/or a fourth module configured to (i) create and periodically update a Cox proportional hazards (CPH) model based on the health status data; (ii) apply a deep neural network (DNN) to the input of the CPH model; (iii) determine a probability of failure for each computing device; (iv) compare each probability of failure with a threshold; and (v) cause the third module to generate a pre-failure support ticket for each computing device having determined probabilities of failure above the threshold.

Abstract: Systems and methods for cooling large numbers of computing devices in a data center are disclosed. The computing devices have cooling fans that can have their fan speed set by management instructions. The devices are mounted in racks in a two-dimensional array and connected via network switches with ports corresponding to their location in the racks. The computer devices are oriented so that their cooling fans all exhaust waste heat to one side of the rack. Instructions are sent to the computing devices to set one or more attributes such as fan speed, operating frequency and voltage according to one ore more patterns. The patterns can be linear or nonlinear and can be shifted, rotated, or changed over time periodically or based on temperature or other performance measurements from the computing devices.

Abstract: A system and method for managing large numbers of computing devices such as cryptocurrency miners in a data center are disclosed. A three-dimensional (3D) model of the data center is created using machine-readable codes. The 3D model includes device and bin location information. Status data is captured from the computing devices, associated with location, stored in a database, and used to populate the 3D model, which is rendered in various two-dimensional and 3D views to provide the user with information helpful in managing the data center.

Abstract: A system and method for efficiently creating and managing application instances in distributed computing systems is disclosed. Controls are presented for specifying an application for instantiation, a data file for use with the application, and a destination for results from the application. Based on user input, graphical representations of available system resources in the distributed computing system are presented along with a logical topology for application instance creation to permit efficient user mapping of application primitives to available system resources. To further improve the user's ability to map, a hierarchical presentation of nodes illustrating resource and interconnection attributes may also be presented, and an error checking process may be performed to detect problems and offer suggested corrections based on application requirements and performance data collected from prior application executions.

Abstract: Systems and methods for managing airflow for cooling computing devices (e.g. in a data center) in normal and cold environments are disclosed. In one embodiment, the method comprises positioning the computing devices on a plurality of racks with air barriers to create hot and cold aisles. The computing devices may be configured in a first mode to draw in cool air the cold aisles and exhaust heated air into the hot aisles. Temperatures in the cold aisles may be periodically measured. In response to temperatures below a predetermined threshold, one or more of the cold aisles may be converted into a temporary hot aisle by adjusting ventilation openings and configuring a subset of the computing devices to temporarily draw in warm air from the temporary hot aisle.