Following the trend for more energy-efficient computing, IBM has announced new tools to help monitor the power consumption of its latest rack-mounted x86 server offerings.

IBM PowerExecutive, which is an extension to IBM’s Director systems management software, allows IT staff to monitor power use and trend data for single servers or groups of servers. PowerExecutive version 2, due later this year, will also enable IT staff to set limits on server power consumption.

IBM said the move was a “breakthrough hardware and software innovation” that will help to automate the management of server power consumption.

Such technologies are likely to be welcomed by firms, many of which are finding it hard to adapt to the increasing power requirements of new server hardware.

Some firms have had to install additional air conditioning and power supplies every few years to cope with the increasing energy needs of servers. And some analysts say power management will be the number one problem for IT managers over the next few years.

PowerExecutive is available on IBM’s latest System x3650, x3550 and x3500 models, announced last week. The x3650 is a fault-tolerant app server, the x3550 is a mid-range system for datacentres, and the x3500 is for remote offices, These servers give up to 163 percent better performance per watt compared to their predecessors, said IBM. The new servers each cost around £2,000 + VAT, though the exact price depends on the configuration.

PowerExecutive was first introduced into IBM’s xSeries with the BladeCenter range in November 2004. A common complaint of firms using blade servers is that each set of about 10 blades produces so much heat that the rest of the rack must be left empty to prevent overheating in the datacentre.