Nonhomogeneous server arrangement

A method for managing workloads within a data center, the method comprising:

• during a first time period, setting substantially all of a first class of server within a data center rack to a low power mode, the data center rack having a nonhomogeneous deployment of servers comprising at least the first class of server and a second class of server, an amount of available cooling for the data center rack being insufficient to cool all servers in the first class of server and the second class of server running in an active processing mode, wherein the first class of server has a first hardware configuration and the second class of server has a second hardware configuration, wherein the first hardware configuration comprises a graphics processing unit (“GPU”) and the second hardware configuration does not include GPU, wherein the nonhomogeneous deployment is in a repeating pattern of a unit of the first class of server adjacent to a unit of the second class of server;
• and
• during a second time period in the data center, setting a majority of the second class of server within the data center rack to the low power mode,
• the second time period not substantially overlapping with the first time period.