Wanted: a "Save energy, be more secure" howto

[bill]

M. Fioretti wrote:

>1) are there any exhaustive statistics on how many Watts a current
>   computer (say P4 with 7200 rpm drive + energy star monitor) really
>   dissipates when idle? Not peak figures, the actual electricity
>   adsorbed when it's on but doing nothing, just waiting for somebody
>   to hit the keyboard
>  
>
A regular CRT monitor consumes more electricity than the PC its 
connected to. So, turning off the tube will save you quite a bit on 
electricity. Newer LCD panels consume much less than a CRT, and the ones 
I'm familiar with are in the neighborhood of 35W. I had a 20" CRT that 
heated the room it was in, consuming over 200W.

Although a PC may have a 350W or 500W power supply, most boxes aren't 
that heavily loaded to consume anywhere near those figures. If you've 
got a high powered video board, that may be an exception. I doubt an 
idling PC is using 100W.

A typical disk drive (PATA or SATA) consumes about 15 watts. That's the 
only mechanical thing (except for fans) usually running when a machine 
is not being used by a person. The CPU chip and MOBO electronics consume 
the bulk of the power that the power supply is providing, and varies 
depending on what chip is being used.

If you're interested in measuring power consumption, purchase a tool 
called a "KILL-A-WATT" meter and it can tell you exactly what your PC is 
consuming in real time under any circumstance you care to create. It 
will tell you about power consumption in both watts and VA, both of 
which are important. Watts only equals VA when the power factor is unity 
(1) and that's never the case.

BTW - We suggest to clients that they size their UPS units by measuring 
the actual power their rack of equipment consumes as opposed to totaling 
the power supply name plate ratings that the UPS manufacturers want you 
to use. A UPS should be sized so that its operating near (around 80% or 
greater) its rated output. Getting a UPS that is too large for the 
actual load it supplies is a large waste of energy due to the 
inefficiency of a lightly loaded unit.

Bill Gradwohl