Administering power supplies in a data center

An apparatus for administering power supplies in a data center, the power supplies providing power to one or more computing devices, each of the power supplies connected through a power line to one of a plurality of circuit breakers, each of the circuit breakers comprising a circuit breaker communications device, each of the power supplies each power supply comprising a power supply communications device, each of the power supplies each power supply connected through an out-of-band communications link to a management module, the management module managing the power supplies and the computing devices in the data center, the apparatus comprising a computer processor, a computer memory operatively coupled to the computer processor, the computer memory having disposed within it computer program instructions capable of:

• upon connection of a first power supply of the power supplies through a power line to a circuit breaker of the circuit breakers in the data center, querying, by a power supply communications device of the first power supply through the power line, a circuit breaker communications device of the circuit breaker for a circuit breaker identification, the circuit breaker identification uniquely identifying the circuit breaker;
• querying, by the power supply communications device of the first power supply, for a maximum current threshold for the circuit breaker;
• sending, by the power supply communications device through the out-of-band communications link, the circuit breaker identification and the maximum current threshold for the circuit breaker to the management module;
• and
• determining, by the management module in dependence upon the circuit breaker identification and the maximum current threshold for the circuit breaker, whether to power on a computing device of the computing devices powered by the first power supply including determining whether the circuit breaker is shared by another power supply of the power supplies;
• and
• administering power of the computing device powered by the first power supply in accordance with the determination whether to power on the computing device.

A computer program product for administering power supplies in a data center, the power supplies providing power to one or more computing devices, each of the power supplies connected through a power line to one of a plurality of circuit breakers, each of the circuit breakers comprising a circuit breaker communications device, each of the power supplies comprising a power supply communications device, each of the power supplies connected through an out-of-band communications link to a management module, the management module managing the power supplies and the computing devices in the data center, the computer program product stored in a computer readable non-transmitting recordable medium, the computer program product comprising computer program instructions capable of:

• upon connection of a first power supply of the power supplies through a power line to a circuit breaker of the circuit breakers in the data center, querying, by a power supply communications device of the first power supply through the power line, a circuit breaker communications device of the circuit breaker for a circuit breaker identification, the circuit breaker identification uniquely identifying the circuit breaker;
• querying, by the power supply communications device of the first power supply of the power supplies, for a maximum current threshold for the circuit breaker;
• sending, by the power supply communications device through the out-of-band communications link, the circuit breaker identification and the maximum current threshold for the circuit breaker to the management module;
• and
• determining, by the management module in dependence upon the circuit breaker identification and the maximum current threshold for the circuit breaker, whether to power on a computing device of the computing devices powered by the first power supply including determining whether the circuit breaker is shared by another power supply of the power supplies;
• and
• administering power of the computing device powered by the first power supply in accordance with the determination whether to power on the computing device.

A method of administering power supplies in a data center, the power supplies providing power to one or more computing devices, each of the power supplies connected through a power line to one of a plurality of circuit breakers, each of the power supplies comprising a power supply communications device, each of the power supplies connected through an out-of-band communications link to a management module, the management module managing the power supplies and the computing devices in the data center, the method comprising:

• upon connection of a first power supply of the power supplies through a power line to a circuit breaker of the circuit breakers in the data center, identifying, by a power supply communications device of the first power supply through the power line, power supply communications devices of other power supplies connected to the circuit breaker including retrieving a unique power supply identification for each of the power supplies;
• sending, by the power supply communications device of the first power supply to the management module through the out-of-band communications link, the unique power supply identification of the identified power supplies;
• and
• determining in dependence upon the unique power supply identifications and a data structure associating the unique power supply identifications and current requirements of computing devices whether to power on one or more computing devices powered by the first power supply.