[CentOS] Being Green, Time to make the servers sleep!

[Noob Centos Admin]

On Thu, Mar 19, 2009 at 10:22 PM, John Hinton <webmaster at ew3d.com> wrote:
> ATX, just
> powers down the computer, leaving the PS in a lowered power state, but
> apparently this can draw up to 60% of the working power needed.

60% would be a gross exaggeration, off the top of my head, an "OFF"
ATX PSU draws less than 10W, maybe a few more in terms of VA due to
inefficiency at really low power. But certainly no way near 60% unless
you are referring to one of those new Atoms/Nano platform. Even then,
they usually come with PSU optimized for low power operation.

> It would be interesting to put a wattmeter inline on the power cord to
> see how much current it's drawing running vs. in sleep state. I guess
> with an AT machine, one would have to use one of those old timers that
> switch on a plug.... something else that uses a bit of electricity, but
> I bet less than a power supply in sleep mode.

Including conversion inefficiency, my gaming PC sucks some 180W on
idle, I just sent it into standby and my wattmeter says 4W. It isn't
spec'd to be accurate at less than 10W so the actual draw could range
from 2W to 8W. Certainly nothing too significant, the total
environmental cost including materials and energy is likely less than
a new timer :)