A rack equipment management system and method for providing a convenient and efficient manner to automatically manage rack equipment associated with information processing based upon power consumption and heat dissipation policies is presented. In one embodiment of the present invention, a rack equipment management system includes a rack equipment management policy data store, a management component, and a communication bus. The rack equipment management policy data store stores policy information related to rack equipment operations. The management component manages power consumption and thermal load of the rack equipment. The communication bus communicatively couples the rack equipment management policy data store and the management component.