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The Cost of Idle Computers

The Cost of Idle Computers . EE 392 Stewardship Presentation Monea Naddaf-Dezfulli. Brief Introduction. Will Cover: Power consumption of the undergraduate engineering computers left idle Associated cost The Reason behind it How it relates to undergraduate engineering students.

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The Cost of Idle Computers

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  1. The Cost of Idle Computers EE 392 Stewardship Presentation Monea Naddaf-Dezfulli

  2. Brief Introduction • Will Cover: • Power consumption of the undergraduate engineering computers left idle • Associated cost • The Reason behind it • How it relates to undergraduate engineering students

  3. The Computers • There are approximately 200 towers and monitors • Excluding labs with dual monitors • Each enters “IDLE” mode when not in use • The Login in screen • Consumes power while in this state

  4. Cold Hard Numbers • Using a clever device developed by James, the current to an idle computer can be measured

  5. Cold Hard Numbers • To idle tower: .465 Amps • To monitor on screen saver: .423 Amps • Which gives a total average power of about 107 Watts

  6. Cold Hard Numbers • We’ll allow for a conservative estimation: • The computers are on and unused 12 hours a day • This gives a daily kilowatt hour of : 1.284 KWH

  7. Cold Hard numbers But… There is 200 of them. Running 365 days a year. That works out to: 94,000 KWH

  8. Hit ‘em where it hurts • The University of Saskatchewan pays about 6¢ a KWH • Keeping the computers idle costs about $5640 That’s a Year’s Tuition!

  9. Money Isn’t Everything • In 20101/2011 the University paid an electrical bill of $5.6 Million • They were under budget by $30,000 • Not likely to care about the .1% wasted by our Idle computers

  10. Reason Behind it All • These computers are left idle for remote access • This allows off campus individuals to complete their tasks

  11. Reason Behind it All • Is there really a demand for 200 remote access computers? • Not likely. • Simply wasting resources

  12. Why should we care? • We’re chewing up resources! • Electricity must be created somewhere along the line

  13. It’s that word again • Sustainability • Using a resource in a manner that does not delete or damage it

  14. How does this tie in? • Producing power that is used frivolously makes sustainability more difficult to obtain • More resources are devoured than needed • More taxing on the environment

  15. Story Time… Imagine a baker. He makes his cookies a dozen at a time And ALWAYS throws one out. Simply because he can. Times get hard. Ingredients get more expensive Now he can’t afford to buy more.

  16. Story Time… • By throwing out his cookie per dozen, he was throwing out his ingredients • He didn’t need them then • He’s desperate for them now

  17. Okay. So? • Powering unused computers may cost us little now • What happened when resources dry up? • We won’t be able to shrug our shoulders and apologize to our starving children for throwing away their cookies

  18. Another Cliché • We are the future engineers • It’s our job to produce while protecting the resources • We are aware that our resources are limited • What should we do about it?

  19. The million dollar question • What should we do? • Challenge the “Just Because” attitude • Decide if profits are more important than people • Ask if you can tell your future grandchildren with pride about the things you have done to the world

  20. Resources • http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/computers.html • http://dssw.co.uk/research/computer_energy_consumption.html • http://www.upenn.edu/computing/provider/docs/hardware/powerusage.html • http://facilities.usask.ca/services/Utilities_Annual_Report_2010-11.pdf

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