Little Miss Enviro Geek : Power Configuration

Some personal news...

biwirth — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 03:24:00 GMT

Hello Dear Blog Readers,

(hmmm....that kinda sounds like the beginning of one of those SPAM emails)

I wanted to let you all know I am moving on from Microsoft and shall no longer be blogging here. I'll be moving an archive of these posts to my website http://www.greenitstrategy.com and shall continue blogging there on Green IT.

So what will I be doing now?

Well, I have decided to take some time off, write a book and maybe look into starting my own business. Regardless, you can always catch me through my website and please do feel free to visit me there.

Thank you to everyone who contacted me with their Green IT questions over the past two years and gave me feedback. I really appreciate your support and good luck with your own Green IT initiatives.

Kind Regards,

Bianca AKA Little Miss Enviro Geek

TechEd 2009 US announces Green IT Track - first ever!

biwirth — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 03:01:48 GMT

For my fellow green geeks in the US, Microsoft have announced their first ever Green IT track for TechEd 2009. Nice! There are 9 sessions specifically on Green IT, including:

ARC313 - Understanding environmental compliance, policy and regulation for IT Leaders - I have seen a version of this internally and I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to understand a bit more around how environmental management is achieved with technology.
ISB206 - What's Behind the Cloud: Microsoft's Data Center Transformation - Christian is one of the key people working with The Green Grid from Microsoft on Data Centres.
MGT201 - Microsoft System Center for the Datacenter
VIR206 - Virtualization for Sustainable Computing
WSV203 - Saving Power and Reducing Environmental Impact with Windows Server
WSV309 - Enhanced Power Efficiency and Power Management Capabilities in Windows Server 2008 R2 - this one should be very informative. Stephen Berard is THE man for power management in Microsoft.

To register and to check out the full list and session descriptions, click yourself into HERE.

TechNet Special Online Edition: "Going Green"

biwirth — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 23:57:00 GMT

A quick post today: TechNet Magazine has published a special online-only edition on Green IT. Topics include:

* Green IT Webcasts in April & May *

biwirth — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 02:35:24 GMT

Check out these Green IT Webcasts happening over April and May with some of Microsoft's best Green IT speakers including Christian Belady, Daniel Costello, Dan Reed, Jim Larus, Isaac Roybal, Adam Bogobowicz, and Stephen Berard.

Title	Date	Time	URL
Manager Webcast Series - Green IT	4/29/2009	4:00 PM GMT	http://bit.ly/8bX4N
Transforming the Data Center with Energy Efficiency (Level 200)	5/1/2009	11:00 AM PST	http://bit.ly/12CFzf
Hyper-Green Virtualization: Scaling Enterprise IT for Energy Efficiency (Level 200)	5/5/2009	10:00 AM PST	http://bit.ly/TFwxV
Cloud Computing Futures: Creating Greener Clouds with Microsoft Research (Level 200)	5/6/2009	9:00 AM PST	http://bit.ly/18hsgU
Improving Energy Efficiency w/ Windows 7 Power Management (Level 200)	5/8/2009	10:00 AM PST	http://bit.ly/fplU

Also, one webcast from Microsoft IT already been hosted & the live recording can be found here:

Title	Date	Time	URL
How Microsoft Does IT: Improving the Sustainability and Use of SQL Server at Microsoft (Level 300)	4/21/2009	Completed	http://bit.ly/2Mp0MS

New Windows 7 Power Management Whitepaper

biwirth — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 02:19:00 GMT

There is a new Windows 7 BETA power management whitepaper available. Key points from the whitepaper include:

Improved idle efficiency - Windows 7 reduces resource utilisation when the system is idle and reduces or eliminates background activity on the system.
Timer Coalescing - for background activity that cannot be reduced, Windows 7 has been modified to defer then execute non-critical background activity at once. It also defers non-critical background activity when on battery power.
Trigger start services - when your computer boots it loads a number of system services in the background. In Windows 7 these services will now use 'trigger start' i.e. they require a physical event to occur before the service is started.
Enhancing power processing management (PPM) - driver support for latest PPM technologies.
Device power management - added the following low power enhancements:

Adaptive Display Brightness	dims the display after a period of time
Low Power Audio	support for latest Intel HD Audio low power specification
Bluetooth	"selective suspend" mode added
Networking	Disconnecting the network cable = automatically goes into low power state & vice-versa Improved wireless low power mode configurable with group policy

User Experience - includes enhancements including improved power troubleshooting and improved low battery alerting.
Enterprise Power Management - more granular control integrated, including:

Event Tracing & power request inspection	integrated into powercfg.exe with HTML based reports
Group Policy	more granular control of the new features like Device Power Management (table above) plus you can now use Group Policy Preferences as well as enforcement to provide more choice
New WMI power provider	allows Powershell 2.0 scripting of power data & settings
Power Policies	additional power policies built-in

Diagnostics in-the-box - the Windows Performance Toolkit helps IT Pros diagnose issues associated with power management.

Also as a side note, there are also two new other documents on the Microsoft Environment site:

Green IT: New Power & Unified Comms whitepapers

biwirth — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 01:10:00 GMT

There are a few new whitepapers on power savings & telework that have been released recently (some replacing older whitepapers and some brand new):

Reducing PC Power Consumption and Costs with Windows Vista - targeted at business and technical decision makers, this whitepaper replaces the old 'Windows Energy Conservation' whitepaper (2007). Its a nice succinct paper that gives a good overview of what exactly makes Windows Vista more energy efficient, provides data on Energy Star analysis and covers two specific customer examples and the savings they have made with Windows Vista.

IT Administrator's Guide to Using Windows Vista for Sustainable IT Success - more targeted at the IT Pro, this whitepaper covers a few of the bits from the above whitepaper, then extends out to cover 7 core recommendations including goal setting, education of users and hardware considerations.

Addressing the challenges facing the distributed, 21st Century Business Through Telework - this one is a Wainhouse Research report sponsored by Microsoft and was released in June 2008. Its about 20 pages and covers off the definition of telework, business issues & impacts related to telework, technologies and three different telework scenarios. Overall it has some good background statistics & info that can contribute to your internal business case for telework / telecommuting / remote working programs. In the technologies section they are generic but do have a Microsoft Technologies box outlining what can be used from our perspective - its not particularly specific but just wanted to make a note that OCS R2 was recently released (Feb 09) which provides enhanced telephony features if you are considering this technology. Check out the latest features of OCS R2 or this link for the detailed technical guides.

Telework and the US Federal Government: At the Tipping Point - and finally, for those readers of mine in the US, this whitepaper (by the same research group as the one above) takes a specific look at the US government related issues, impacts and case studies. Although parts of it are obviously very US-government-centric (and repeat elements of the previous whitepaper), it still makes a good reference for other global governments' teleworking strategy development.

HOW TO: Windows Vista Power Management Video

biwirth — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 23:42:00 GMT

Just a real quick one today: on my personal Green IT website, I have posted a short 1:16 minute video targeted more for end-users and general public, on how to configure their Windows Vista machine to Energy Star-recommended power settings.

I'd expect the IT Pro to set their's through group policies so I'll be posting up a video on this in the near future.

In the meantime if your small business, mum or grandma want to know how to do it, point them to this VIDEO.

Mr B's announcement on Environmental Sustainability @ MS

biwirth — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 06:38:16 GMT

OK so first I'll apologise for taking naptime on my blog for the past month+. I have no excuse other than perceived lack of time - you may send me to the principal for punishment. Speaking of the 'head', today our illustrious leader, Mr Ballmer, made some announcements on Environmental Sustainability in Microsoft.

First up: we have promised to reduce our emissions 30% per unit of revenue by 2012. Considering the Prime Minister of Australia could only manage a paltry 5% for the whole of Australia, I'd say our target it pretty <bleep> brilliant.

Second: he encouraged all employees on the things they can do to help meet this target:

Using IT to improve energy efficiency: check out our newly revised website www.microsoft.com/environment for information on reducing energy consumption using technology
Accelerating research on environmental sustainability: check out www.research.microsoft.com for our work in this area
Responsible environmental leadership: the 30% reduction will be achieved through things like building management, reducing air travel, optimising our supply chain, and investing in concentrated programs

Checkout the formal blog post from our E&S Team for more info: http://blogs.msdn.com/see/archive/2009/03/12/reducing-microsoft-s-carbon-footprint.aspx

Great new whitepaper: Power In, Dollars Out: How to Stem the Flow in the Data Center

biwirth — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 05:11:47 GMT

First up - Happy New Year! :) I had a relaxing time (apart from the stupid oven cracking it halfway through the roast on Xmas day) and, when the mood struck me, I spent time updating my website with new features and content.

Back into the swing, in early December the Windows Server Performance <guys/girls/whatever> released a great new whitepaper with quite a lot of detail around optimisation of servers, as well as publishing their test results.

Some of the best practices covered include:

Shut down idle machines during off-peak times.
Opt for 2.5-inch instead of 3.5-inch disk drives.
Use low-revolutions-per-minute (RPM) disk drives where it is possible.
Select power-efficient processors and memory.
Install variable-speed fans and efficient power supplies in servers to reduce waste.
Use remote-controlled power strips to completely eliminate electricity flow to "powered-off" servers.
Ensure that Windows Server 2008 is configured to use the Balanced power policy.
Tune processor power management parameters to increase efficiency by up to 10 percent.
Consolidate workloads or combine server roles on idle and underutilized servers where it is possible.
Turn off hardware-based power management
Deploy the latest service packs and Windows Server releases.
Remove or shut down unnecessary roles, applications, and devices.

The 'shut down idle machines during off-peak times' section references a good article by Dave Ohara which provides some more practical suggestions for how you actually achieve this. However I do question the viability of turning off servers when they are not in use in **some** environments:

Issue number 1: I know that some of my customers have trouble even identifying what applications are running on certain servers and what the subsequent business impact would be if there were turned off. This sounds highly unlikely and slightly dark ages to some IT departments but I know from talking to others this is the case, especially on older hardware and OS' that 'just keep running in the corner'. This is not to say I condone not knowing what servers do - just pointing out that turning off idle machines is a more complex analysis process upfront for some.
Issue number 2: in regards to actually identifying some servers that don't need to be running at certain times of the day - I think this may be a nirvana situation in some less-than-leading-edge environments. Probably the 'easier-target' scenario I could see this working in is where you have a bank of servers, which Dave rightly points out - something like a Citrix farm in which each server may generally be configured identically and en masse (which would provide capability even at reduced performance until a new server(s) came up from being turned off, if that was necessary).

The whitepaper starts to get really meaty towards the middle of the document, covering some great detail on areas such as efficiency analysis, ACPI (C-States, P-States, T-States), interrupts, timers and test results for removing components to measure their power draw. A few good points:

Even when powered off, the test server consumed 27 watts - you might often hear a similar story along the lines of 'unplug your mobile phone because it draws power even when turned off at the point but is still plugged in'.
In the tests Memory consumed 54% of the total system power. Newer RAM consumes less power due to modern energy efficiencies.
Using 2.5" disks instead of 3.5" disks doesn't impact performance but does consume 50% less power.

Anyway before I give away the storyline, I'll let you go read the paper yourself: http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/pnppwr/powermgmt/Svr_Pwr_ITAdmin.mspx

Also check out a related blog post by the team who wrote this whitepaper, focusing on tuning power processor performance: http://blogs.technet.com/winserverperformance/.

Enjoy the theme music to go with the blog post: Endless Sacrifice - Dream Theater; Songdust & Delerium - I Mother Earth; King of Terrors - Symphony X :-)

2 real case studies for lower power consumption

biwirth — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 01:01:56 GMT

Case Study Number One:

It's a good video (but with slightly tacky music!) posted on Continental Airlines Windows Vista rollout using System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) and their subsequent power savings - estimated at $2m by the time they are finished, across 18,000 PCs annually. A good chunk of dollarinos there.

Check out http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/casestudy.aspx?casestudyid=4000002271

Case Study Number Two:

The next one is Medtronic who also deployed Windows Vista across 43,000 desktops: they estimate a saving of around $750k annually. Checkout http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/casestudy.aspx?casestudyid=4000003027

So being a savvy reader you would have noticed there is a distinct cost saving different between case study number 1 & case study number 2 - why wouldn't 43,000 desktops achieve greater cost savings?

Although it doesn't say in the case studies, I believe the difference could be due the fact that Continental are using SCCM to shutdown & restart computers when they aren't used - Medtronic are only measuring the difference between Windows Xp -> Windows Vista: because in Windows Vista the Balanced power plan is configured as the default, it automatically has power savings over Windows XP.

Windows Server 2008: Power Management Tuning

biwirth — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 01:31:50 GMT

While researching my talk for TechEd tomorrow, I came across a good Windows Server 2008 Performance Tuning whitepaper. There was a small section on power management which provided a good overview of how it works in Windows Server 2008. Essentially, where Windows Server 2003 didn't have a power savings plan implemented by default, Windows Server 2008 has the 'Balanced' plan which saves about 10% energy on baseline Windows Server 2003.

"High performance and low power usage are often conflicting goals, but by carefully selecting server components you can determine the correct balance between them. Table 3 contains guidelines for power characteristics and capabilities of server hardware components.

Table 3. Server Hardware Power Savings Recommendations

Component	Recommendation
Processors	Higher frequencies in a specific processor family cause increased power consumption when the processors are under heavy load. Also, processor families usually include low-power versions. Newer generations of processors expose more power states for the Windows power management algorithms, which enables better power management at all levels of performance.
Memory (RAM)	Memory consumes an increasing part of system power. Many factors affect the power consumption of a memory "stick" such as memory technology, error correction code (ECC), frequency, capacity, density, and number of ranks. Therefore, it is best to compare expected power consumption ratings before purchasing large quantities of memory. Low-power ("green") memory is now available, but a performance or monetary trade-off must be considered. If paging is required, then the power cost of the paging disks should also be considered.
Disks	Higher RPM means increased power consumption. Also, new 2.5-inch drives consume less than half the power of older 3.5-inch drives. More information about the power cost for different RAID configurations is found in "Performance Tuning for Storage Subsystem" later in this guide.
Network and storage adapters	Some adapters decrease power consumption during idle periods. This becomes a more important consideration for 10-Gb networking and high-bandwidth storage links.

The default power plan for Windows Server 2008 is Balanced, which tries to keep performance high while it saves power whenever possible. The other predefined plans are Low Power and High Performance, both of which are heavily weighted to different goals. But server BIOS settings can prevent Windows from accomplishing any of these goals, so make sure that you check whether power management by the operating system or by the hardware is a BIOS option. Windows Server performance lab tests show that Windows power management works very well when it is compared to hardware-managed power management on enterprise servers, so the operating system-managed setting is preferred. However, the most important guideline is to make sure that the BIOS settings on a specific server are well understood so that the administrator knows if the Windows power setting controls (including the High Performance plan) are actually usable."

It also provides tips on choosing RAID systems if you want to balance cost, capacity and power; as well as how power access affects RAID.

You can download the entire document HERE.

Q: how much better for the environment is it to put a computer into standby?

biwirth — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 01:18:07 GMT

A customer who is currently developing their Green IT policy asked me a similar question recently - and its a great question! So here was my response...

Energy Star compliant monitors need to meet 15 watts or less per hour in sleep/low power mode. They have some good stats on their website about how powering down or low power modes affect computing equipment:

Computers: A well-designed ENERGY STAR qualified computer will not lose its network connection, which could lead to a loss of data, while in the low-power or sleep mode. Most of the computers that are being manufactured today include a capability to sleep intelligently on a network.
Monitors: Only after the machine has been used 20 to 30 years will switching it on and off five times or more a day increase the frequency of faults in power transistors in the control and deflection parts.
Screen Savers: Despite common belief, a screen saver does not save energy. In fact, more often than not, a screen saver will not only draw power for the monitor but will also keep the CPU from shutting down.

So to do an example calculation: if you calculate 15 watts per hour across 1000 monitors = (0.015 kilowatts * 1000 monitors) = 15 kilowatts an hour. This is equivalent to 10 kilograms of carbon dioxide.

You can do the same calculations on the actual computer box - the Energy Star requirement is for consumption of <30 watts per hour in sleep mode. So for 1000 computers it is 20kg of CO2. Add them together & every hour 1000 computers with 1000 monitors are in low power/sleep mode, you are effectively emitting 30kg of carbon.

The equivalent of 30kg of carbon in every-day terms is approximately equal to using 15 litres of petrol in your car.

A few more resources:

This website is good for equivalency calculations: http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-resources/calculator.html
Next year (TBC) the Australian government will be introducing new standards which ALL computer/monitor manufacturers will be required to meet i.e. a set limits on how many watts a computer & monitor consumes in sleep mode. So while Energy Star is currently optional, the government will soon make it mandatory.
The Microsoft environment website has lots of general environmental solutions information: www.microsoft.com/environment
Energy Star has developed a Desired Configuration Management (DCM) Pack for System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) to help you identify which computers comply with Energy Star requirements: http://www.microsoft.com/environment/campaign_energy_star.aspx. System Center also allows you to use Wake On LAN (WoL) capability to wake up sleeping computers so they can be patched.
This whitepaper helps you calculate energy savings using Windows Vista: http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/pnppwr/powermgmt/VistaEnergyConserv.mspx#top

Verdiem releases power management tools for Windows XP & Vista

biwirth — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 03:55:00 GMT

For consumers, Verdiem announced Wednesday last week they were releasing a free tool for power management on Windows XP and Vista called "Edison". Although Windows Vista's power savings settings are on by default, Windows XP's settings aren't, so a tool like this helps configure these settings in an easy graphical interface for the home user. Additionally the tool allows for scheduling of power management and provides estimated savings reports, which is something not built in to either Vista or XP.

NYTimes have reported on the release, quoting Kevin Klustner from Verdium: "Household electricity bills could also be trimmed by $20 to $95 a year for each PC, depending on local power costs and the kind of PCs in use."

I installed the software on my home PC, which is running Windows Vista Ultimate. It was a 28mb download for version 1.0.3166.0 and it was a 'follow the bouncing balls' type install (easy). My firewall prompted me a couple of times advising the program wanted to access the Internet so gave it temporary access and then followed these steps to configure it:

Step 3 - Then wait for the activation link to be sent to your email address - click on the link and you'll be activated via the web.

So all up pretty easy to setup and targeted at non-IT consumers - I would definitely only recommend it for a home computer, not corporate computers. The free software can be downloaded from: http://www.microsoft.com/environment/campaign_Edison.aspx

For the enterprise, Verdiem has developed corporate power saving software called Surveyor, which can be used to configure things like graceful application shutdown and saving open documents, and configuring different power settings for different groups of people like laptop users. They have an associated plugin to System Center called Surveyor Wake Up for SMS which helps ease patching suspended computers, even without WoL functionality.

Comprehensive list of Vista Power Management resources...

biwirth — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 03:58:00 GMT

There is a tonne of information available on Vista power management, from whitepapers to videos to blog posts. I’ve tried to document a list of the best here:

· Optimising Windows Vista for power efficiency - this white paper details the various scenarios and configurations you can enable, including detailed INF configurations for building SOEs. Focuses a bit on system builders but any SOE specialist will find this valuable.

· Windows Vista Energy Conservation – a good broad overview of the features in Windows Vista that help conserve energy use. Includes some test figures for how much power a PC consumes and formulas for how you can calculate energy savings, and the subsequent impact on carbon emissions.

· Application Power Management Best Practices in Windows Vista – details application event management and best practices on how application developers on handling low power states and designing for extending battery life.

· ACPI / Power Management – Architecture and Driver support – a great website that lists a number of resources to help you better understand and develop on a Windows platform for greater energy efficiency.

· Power Management with Windows Vista Best Practices PowerPoint slides – a great 2 page slide deck from Microsoft IT that could be used to educate internal users at your organisation.

· Power Management in Windows Vista – a slide deck from WinHEC 2006 by Pat Stemen in the Windows Platform Architecture Group, outlining the goals of Vista power management, and providing an overview of reliable sleep transitions, modes, power configuration using powercfg, and broad best practices.

· Processor Power Management in Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 – concepts, policies and tools to use for power management.

· Active State Power Management in Windows Vista – a brief whitepaper covering the effect of bus architecture on power consumption, as well as specifications.

· New Categories in Power Management – a 1 paragraph overview of the new Vista power management policies.

Plus there are some great blog entries out there providing advice in this space:

· Power Management in Windows Vista video - http://blogs.technet.com/tnspot/archive/2007/06/28/spotlight-video-on-demand-pat-stemen-power-management-in-windows-vista.aspx

· Vista Power Savings Case Study link - http://blogs.technet.com/james/archive/2008/04/28/vista-power-saving-stats.aspx

· Screencast: Vista Power Management - http://blogs.technet.com/chrisavis/archive/2007/06/19/screencast-vista-power-management-power-plans.aspx

· Vista Power Management using Group Policy (part 1 & 2) - http://blogs.technet.com/grouppolicy/archive/2006/08/30/452916.aspx and http://blogs.technet.com/grouppolicy/archive/2006/09/06/vista-has-the-power-part-two-of-two.aspx

· Windows Vista Virtual Labs links - http://blogs.technet.com/curiousgeorge/archive/2008/05/13/windows-vista-virtual-lab-improve-your-pc-s-power-management.aspx

· Writing a custom power management script - http://blogs.technet.com/fdcc/archive/2008/01/30/script-a-custom-power-management-policy.aspx

· What variations of sleep does my computer support - http://blogs.technet.com/brad_rutkowski/archive/2007/04/18/what-variations-of-sleep-does-my-computer-support-and-why-did-it-wake-up.aspx

· Managing Power with Group Policy - http://blogs.technet.com/askds/archive/2008/03/17/managing-power-with-group-policy-part-1-of-3.aspx

· Video – how much power does your PC consume? - http://edge.technet.com/Media/How-much-power-does-your-PC-consume/

· Power Management and CPU Frequency - http://blogs.msdn.com/richardt/archive/2007/07/11/vista-power-management-cpu-frequency.aspx

New Windows Server 2008 Power Savings Whitepaper & results published!!!

biwirth — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 02:18:00 GMT

Microsoft has published a new whitepaper on Windows Server 2008 power savings, and the results and methodologies of the tests run to develop the paper.

This is an excellent document, which outlines the test results (downloadable in separate spreadsheets) and the role of virtualisation in optimising energy efficiencies in your data centres.

Check it out at: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=61d493fd-855d-4719-8662-3a40ba3a0a5c&displaylang=en