System and method of rack management

A thermal management method for a rack system having a fan cooling both first and second computing devices mounted in the rack system, comprising:

• receiving, with a rack management controller communicatively coupled to each of the first and second computing devices, first and second thermal information about the respective first and second computing devices;
• calculating, with the rack management controller, a first fan speed for the fan based on the first thermal information received from the first computing device;
• querying, with the rack management controller, a fan controller controlling the fan to determine if the fan is operating at the first fan speed;
• if the first fan is not operating at the first fan speed, calculating, with the rack management controller, a second fan speed for the fan based on the second thermal information received from the second computing device;
• and
• setting, with the rack management controller, the fan to the higher of the first fan speed and the second fan speed.

A rack system, comprising:

• first and second computing devices releasably mounted within a frame;
• a fan mounted in the frame and configured to cool at least the first computing device;
• and
• a rack management controller communicatively coupled to each of the first and second computing devices and having a non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium that stores a plurality of instructions for execution by at least one processor, wherein the instructions comprise:
• instructions to calculate a first fan speed for the fan based on first thermal information received from the first computing device;
• instructions to determine whether the fan is responsible for cooling the second computing device in addition to the first computing device;
• instructions to calculate a second fan speed for the fan based on second thermal information received from the second computing device if the fan is responsible for cooling the second computing device;
• and
• instructions to set the fan to the higher of the first fan speed and the second fan speed if the fan is responsible for cooling the second computing device.