The whole world, it seems, is "going green." When applied to IT,
the term
green power generally means conserving energy by
limiting the energy consumption of computing gear, as well as
minimizing the wasted energy that results from the daily rigors of
computing.
Green power also means that a system is
environmentally-friendly, both in the construction of computer
components, and in their proper disposal, so as to avoid
contaminating the environment during manufacture, use, or when
components or systems go bye-bye. To merit a green label, system
builders or integrated must devise, then execute, a
well-documented plan to serve an environmentally-friendly agenda.
In fact, energy conservation is taking a central role in the
development of several key computing components. These range from
the intense processing of a CPU, to the power supplies that
deliver electricity to PC components, and even to the devices used
to reproduce text and images on paper. During all of these
processes, energy is spent while some is inevitably lost in the
form of heat waste.
For some computer components, energy efficiency is measured by
the ratio of output energy to input energy. This is often
expressed as a percentage that indicates how much of the input
electricity the electronic component in question actually gets to
put to real work. Thus, if a component is described with 70
percent efficiency, much of the energy it consumes is used; but 30
percent of all the electricity it consumes is wasted, usually in
the form of heat, also known as thermal output. In turn, such heat
build-up must often be offset by internal and external cooling
mechanisms. These mechanisms also serve to increase overall power
consumption. Within a densely populated computing environment,
this can increase operational costs and shorten hardware life
spans.
The Green Power of Energy Star
The need for clean, efficient power consumption has motivated
vendors to build Energy Star compliant hardware devices across a
broad range of computer component types. Many of these devices
feature stand-by modes and power-management capabilities to
further reduce energy consumption and operational costs, and to
prolong their life spans.
Since its inception in 1990, the
Energy Star initiative
has inspired a bevy of power conservation features in tested and
certified equipment. With an ever-expanding industrial workforce
that continues to rely on the computers, energy consumption is
bound to keep rising. The sorts of energy-saving techniques that
were once exclusive in mobile computing platforms are now finding
their ways into Energy Star compliant desktop computers at the
forefront of today's IT business infrastructure. The overall
objective is establish more environmentally friendly methods of
operation that should be beneficial for both computers and
end-users alike, a process that must begins with component
vendors, and be carried through by those who put computer systems
together. Here's a shot of the familiar Energy Star logo:
In this Recipe we'll give you some insight into the following
key areas of green components: processors, power supplies,
motherboards, disk drives, monitors, printers and fax machines,
and copiers and scanners. We'll also cover the multi-function
device sometimes called a "hydra" that combines two or more of the
four preceding functions (such as a printer/fax/copier) into a
single box. Finally, we'll also discuss the Advanced Configuration
Power Interface (ACPI), an industry standard specification, whose
focus on efficient handling of power and its consumption makes it
a natural when it comes to discussing green machines.
Processors
We start with our first component on our way toward a green
machine, namely, the processor. Many modern processors consume
somewhere between 89 to 119 watts of power. When you stop to
consider that the surface of a typical CPU die is on the order of
between one-quarter- and one-half-inch squared, you can put this
in perspective as being hotter than a common clothes iron.
AMD's pioneering concept of performance-per-watt, which seeks
to maximize each unit of power. Both the energy-efficient Athlon
64 (in both single and dual-core varieties) and the Sempron
budget-line processors are veritable poster-children for
conservative power design. Both also facilitate the
green-computing concept.
Newer designs draw on fewer watts per part, with some AMD CPUs
consuming only 35 to 65 watts nominally, and often less. The
latest-generation Intel CPUs consume anywhere from 24 watts to 65
watts. Here's a look at both the AMD Athlon 64 and the Intel Core
2 Duo processors:
Power Supplies
Philips continues to develop its Green Chip family of
energy-efficient integrated circuits, starting with the Green Chip
PC, a unified design that increases desktop power supply
efficiency greater than 80 per cent. The company's patented Green
Chip SR is a secondary control IC for notebook adapters that
improves the efficiency of laptop power adapters, as well. Using a
unique topology, Philips has devised a way to further reduce heat
waste by encouraging a power-conservation trend directly at the
source.
CoolerMaster eXtreme Power and Real Power series PSUs utilize a
green power design to meet both Energy Star operating
standards—and are capable of reaching 70 percent energy efficiency
during operation. More specifically, the IGreen series PSUs offer
advanced efficiencies that reportedly exceed 85 percent efficiency
using Double Forward Switching Technology (or DFST). This
incorporates an intelligent circuit to monitor and stabilize power
output levels, while maintaining at least 80 percent efficiency
ratings across its output range.
Seasonic is one of a dozen vendors (including SilverStone)
listed among the
80 Plus
efficiency certification, an electrical utility-funded incentive
program designed to validate energy-efficient power supplies.
Among the qualifying candidates, Seasonic dominates the market
with 11 certified PSUs, ranging from 300 watts to 650 watts.
Seasonic's power supplies also enjoy a reputation as being whisper
quiet, as well as exceptionally cool and efficient. Here's a look
at the Seasonic power supply:
For more information on related certified products from
qualifying vendors, see the
listCertified
Power Supply Products & Suppliers page provided by the 80 Plus
organization.
Motherboards
Green also means reducing the percentage of computer parts that
contain lead. One area where this heavy metal can be addressed is
in motherboard construction. Historically, chips have been
fastened to motherboards using tiny deposits of lead-based solder.
More recently, this poisonous and dangerous heavy metal has been
effectively replaced by a more environmentally friendly mixture of
copper, silver and tin.
In 2004, mothervoard vendor VIA completely eliminated lead from
its manufacturing processes to comply with then-new laws governing
IT equipment recycling practices. That year, the company announced
its first-ever lead-free motherboard, the AS-1210. VIA chipsets
and motherboard designs may be found in many different OEM systems
and in retail motherboard packages. Since that time, other
top-level vendors, including Intel, have also begun to produce
lead-free designs. Intel's offerings include the older 915GAVX as
well as the newer 945GTPL, 955X, and 975X desktop motherboards.
When it comes to motherboard power consumption, power
efficiency is best facilitated by a well laid-out cooling
infrastructure. Motherboards such as Gigabyte's K8NF-9-ULTRA
feature a fanless nForce4 chipset design. This reduces overall
power draw by eliminating a cooling fan that would typically be
used to cool key chipsets in other designs. Instead, this offering
leverages case design to facilitate cooling. Similar products from
Asus, FoxConn, and MSI are also becoming increasingly more
available. Gigabyte's K8NF-9-Ultra fanless motherboard design is
shown here:
Disk Drives
Many modern disk drives, such as Samsung's
SpinPoint series, feature a power-saving mode.
Samsung also offers an additional specialized power
control method to suspend disk activity during any
prolonged idle intervals. When fully supported by
the OS, several levels of suspend-to-disk
functionality are possible (for more, see the
Advanced Power Configuration Interface (ACPI)
section below). In fact, the SpinPoint drive
depicted below can cut its power consumption to less
than 10 percent of normal levels:
While most disk drives offer one or more suspend
modes, forthcoming hybrid drive technologies hint at
even better power-saving strategies. They will marry
the low-power properties of flash storage and the
operation of disk hardware. For example, Samsung's
Hybrid Hard Drive (HHD), set to debut in 2007, will
help extend battery-life for laptop users by as much
as an additional half-hour. The drive also promises
to improve overall responsiveness during boot-up and
restore operations, thanks to larger on-board cache
and reduced dependence upon spinning platters to
recall recently accessed data. Microsoft is reported
to have such technology listed as a requirement for
its upcoming Windows Vista operating system.
Monitors
Most of the heat waste produced by computer
components may be attributed to common CRT monitors,
with their immense size and component weight,
compared with lighter, more energy-friendly LCD
displays. Energy Star-compliant monitors can reach
low-power states from 15 watts operational to 8
watts after idle periods. They reportedly consume 90
percent less electricity than monitors that lack
such power-management capabilities. Viewsonic, to
name just one supplier, offers several Energy Star
compliant monitors, such as this one:
Screen savers and background tasks tend to
interrupt and even prohibit suspend states, so a
green PC's power profile should exclude any activity
that may prevent a CPU or display from hibernating.
For qualifying monitors, see the official
Monitors Product List provided by Energy Star
(Excel spreadsheet download)..
Printers and Fax Machines
For every printer, there's an individualized
energy-usage pattern based on the number and
appearance of features that serve a variety of
purposes. Energy Star-compliant units throttle power
consumption between 10 watts and 100 watts following
a predefined period of inactivity—typically from 5
to 90 minutes. Printers certified as Energy
Star-compliant are said to use 60 percent less
energy than non-compliant devices, according to the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). And the
majority of ink-jet printers meet certification
criteria using inherently energy efficient designs
without requiring assistance from power-management
regimes.
Larger, more complex (and more
energy-consumptive) laser printers typically include
such capabilities to help them manage their larger
energy budgets equally effectively. For example,
Dell's 3100cn model printer is environmentally
friendly and visually striking:
For more information, see Energy Star's official
Printer, Faxes and Mailing Machines Products List
(Excel spreadsheet download).
Copiers and Scanners
Copiers and scanners that lack power-management
features can overuse electrical energy that goes
largely wasted. Energy Star-compliant scanners may
enter sleep modes using only 12 watts of power
following 15 minute periods of inactivity. Studies
show such regimes can save upwards of 50 percent of
the electrical costs associated with similar, but
unregulated devices. Canon, to name just one
supplier, makes several energy-efficient copier
models; here's a look at the company's model C210:
For more information on related compliant
products, go to Energy Star's
Copiers Product List, as well as their
Scanners Product List (Excel spreadsheet
download).
There's also a class of machines jokingly called
"hydras," after the mythical multiheaded beast, but
more properly termed "multifunction devices." These
combine the capabilities of printers, faxes,
scanners, and sometimes more. Like the other
machines mentioned here, they can be prodigious
consumers of electricity; this make Energy
Star-compliant versions of such multifunction
devices every bit as desirable as their
single-function counterparts. For more information,
go to Energy Star's page on
Multifuction Devices.
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