Power consumption database
Home > IT Answers > DataCenter > Power consumption database
MargaretRouse
210 pts.
0
Q:
Power consumption database
Servers, power consumption
Posted on behalf of pwilliams80:

Does anybody know of a resource providing power consumption figures for all servers? (HP/Sun etc).

We are trying to do some analysis on servers in our data centres to see how much power we are saving by moving from a physical to virtual environment.

If we know the Manufacturer and Model of the source servers, numbers to be decommissioned and tie this to a database with the manufacturers data, we can establish theoretical power savings.

Any help would be much appreciated. I know of one product (Rackwise Data Centre Manager) but this is a whole software package with many features which simply aren't relevant. We just want a database for server specifications.

Thanks in advance.
ASKED: Aug 23 2007  1:44 PM GMT
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
RELATED QUESTIONS
0
Spadasoe
2360 pts.
0
A:
 RATE THIS ANSWER
-1
Click to Vote:
  •   0
  •  -1
  • AddThis Social Bookmark Button
Hi,
Sorry, but there are really too many variables for such an analysis. Disk useage, APCI settings, ambient air temperature affecting fan speeds, number and type of disk drives, and on and on... For a loosey-goosey answer, you can look at the server specs in the user manual and come up with a rough idea of typical power consumption. You'll also see incidental power savings in reduced load on the air conditioners, by the way...


APC has an online calculator that is used for load management on their UPS systems. Take a look and see if it can provide some numbers for you
Last Answered: Aug 29 2007  1:40 PM GMT by Spadasoe   2360 pts.
Latest Contributors: BobYoung   0 pts.
  •   
0
0
RSS - Discussions Help
Discuss This Answer:
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _



_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Bikecommutr   80 pts.  |   Sep 4 2007  3:02PM GMT

The best way to do this is empirically. Buy a power monitor and sample some racks. See what the actual draw is over a week. Assuming a good sample, you can extrapolate to the rest of the data center fairly accurately.

At worst, look at each power supply in the devices and add up peak/average load. Remember the formula watts = amps * voltage and it all becomes easier.

 

Brycenesbitt   20 pts.  |   Sep 17 2009  6:24PM GMT

Looking at the vendor specifications is essentially useless. Go out and get a Kill-A-Watt P4400
, and plug it in. The only downside is unless you have redundant supplies, you have to unplug first.
For examples of how far off “specified” and “measured” power usage is, see my
switch power consumption page at

 

Brycenesbitt   20 pts.  |   Sep 17 2009  6:25PM GMT

At:
 <a href="http://www.obviously.com/tech_tips/Switch_Power_Consumption" title="http://www.obviously.com/tech_tips/Switch_Power_Consumption" target="_blank">http://www.obviously.com/tech_tips/Switc…</a>
 <a href="http://www.obviously.com" title="http://www.obviously.
" target="_blank">www.obviously.com</a>

 
0