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10 IT Power-Saving Myths Debunked

Posted by timothy on from the replace-all-leds-with-cfls dept.

snydeq writes "InfoWorld examines 10 power-saving assumptions IT has been operating under in its quest to rein in energy costs vs. the permanent energy crisis. Under scrutiny, most such assumptions wither. From true CPU efficiency, to the life span effect of power-down frequency on servers, to SSD power consumption, to switching to DC in the datacenter, get the facts before setting your IT energy strategy."

3 of 359 comments (clear)

  1. I dunno.. by Anrego · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm of the school that thinks "debunking" involves some kind of comprehensive stats or numbers or evidence weight against strongly held opinions.

    This article is basically a verbose version of the "nuh uh" argument.

    It's not a bad article.. but I would hardly call this "debunking".

    And I totally disagree on point #2 .. maybe having _all_ your extra servers always on is bad.. but if load peaks there is no _way_ someone should be waiting while a system boots.

    1. Re:I dunno.. by ShieldW0lf · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I've got electric heat, and I've got a pile of servers in my spare bedroom, and I never need to turn on the electric heat, because the servers heat my home.

      Which looks to me like an opportunity. People pay for heat. So, put the servers where people need heat, and suddenly a liability is a resource.

      Apartment buildings, office buildings and malls in cold climates should all be prime locations for a datacenter.

      --
      -1 Uncomfortable Truth
  2. Re:Sleep != Hibernate by EvilRyry · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Using my handy killawatt, I tested how much power my desktop (not including accessories) draws while off, on and idle, on and under load, and in S3 suspend.

    Off - 6 watts
    Idle - 140W (dropped from 152W after installing a tickless kernel)
    Loaded - 220W
    S3 - 8 watts

    Ever since I ran that test, I put my machine into suspend at every opportunity. 140W is a lot of juice in the land of $0.18/kWh.