• The Four Hundred
  • Subscribe
  • Media Kit
  • Contributors
  • About Us
  • Contact
Menu
  • The Four Hundred
  • Subscribe
  • Media Kit
  • Contributors
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Energy Star Ratings for Servers, Release 1.0

    May 26, 2009 Timothy Prickett Morgan

    For the past several years, the Environmental Protection Agency has been working with the server makers of the world to come up with Energy Star ratings–you know, those yellow tags that help you figure out which appliances are energy efficient and therefore save you money over the long run–for servers.

    Last week, the EPA rolled out the release 1.0 of the Energy Star for Servers specification, which is the first serious step on the long road to doing green analysis on the gear that goes into data centers. As readers of The Four Hundred well know, I am big on lean, mean, green machines and have been an advocate for using the cheapest computers and consuming the least energy possible when it comes to servers workloads. And Andrew Fanara, the Energy Star product development team leader at EPA, knows that, too, and so I was able to get my hands on the specification package that the server makers got last week.

    Considering that getting any of the server makers to agree on anything is a bit like herding cats, it is no surprises to me–or to them–that the release 1.0 of the Energy Star for Server spec has some issues that still need to be worked out. The initial spec basically covers one-way and two-way servers, and does not yet cover larger machines with more processor sockets or blade servers of any size. This is a problem, of course. And it is also a problem that EPA has not yet added networking or storage gear to its Energy Star mission, but one thing at a time. This is Uncle Sam and a resistant (despite all their greenwashing) and cantankerous IT industry we are talking about here.

    The EPA is dividing servers into two classes: a standard server; and what it calls a managed server, which means it has a service processor for systems management functions. To get the Energy Star sticker, a single-socket server has to have an idle power draw in a base configuration of 55 watts, or 65 watts if the box has a service processor; for two-socket boxes, it has to idle at 100 watts, and with a service processor it has to idle at 150 watts or less. Each server is expected to have 4 GB of main memory and one disk drive. If a configuration has a redundant power supply, the Energy Star spec allows another 20 watts to be burned, and for richer configurations, you have to add 2 watts per GB of memory and 2 watts per Gigabit Ethernet port; a disk drive is rated at 8 watts. These are the maximum wattages that these components can have to get the Energy Star label slapped on them. The spec also has very precise metrics that the power supplies have to meet to get the Energy Star label.

    At some point, EPA will probably slap the SPEC power_ssj2008 benchmark into the spec and test machines under load, which is what you really want to rate a machine. That way, you would have ratings for idle conditions and when the machine is under stress. The EPA didn’t say this was going to happen, but the form that server makers are being asked to fill out to apply for the stickers has SPECpower_ssj2008 ratings in the workload field.

    I’ll let you know as machines get certified for the spec and as the spec evolves to include other server types, including midrange and big iron, blade servers, appliance servers, and other gear.

    RELATED STORIES

    SPEC Members Start on Energy Benchmark for Web Servers

    IT Shops Worried About Energy, But Cutting Power Isn’t Happening

    Neuwing, IBM to Quantify and Monetize IT Energy Savings

    Green Computing Tops Gartner’s List of 10 Hottest Technologies

    Servers Get Their First Power and Performance Benchmark

    EPA Says American Data Centers Can Cut Power Use Dramatically

    IBM Takes Its Own Server Consolidation Medicine

    IBM Sees Green in Going Green in Data Centers

    How To Build a Green Data Center

    Uncle Sam Pushes Energy Star Ratings for Servers

    Power Company Gives Rebates on Energy-Efficient Servers

    AMD’s Green Grid Project to Educate IT on Power Issues

    The Balance of Server Powers

    Lean, Mean Green Machines



                         Post this story to del.icio.us
                   Post this story to Digg
        Post this story to Slashdot

    Share this:

    • Reddit
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Email

    Tags: Tags: mtfh_rc, Volume 18, Number 20 -- May 26, 2009

    Sponsored by
    OCEAN User Group

    OCEAN TechCon25 Online

    It’s an Exciting Time for IBM i !

    July 16 & 17, 2025 – ONLINE

    Two virtual days of learning, presented by an outstanding group of IBM’ers and IBM Champions, featuring leading-edge topics.

    FREE for OCEAN members!

    Register NOW!

    Annual (12-month) Individual OCEAN Memberships are $80 and a Corporate Membership is $250. A Corporate Membership would allow your entire company to have full access to the OCEAN website & video library and to attend OCEAN events at member rates. Act now because rates are increasing on August 1, 2025.

    Share this:

    • Reddit
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Email

    Profound Logic Aims to Simplify Menu Navigation with Atrium IBM Makes the Case for Power Systems SSDs

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

TFH Volume: 18 Issue: 20

This Issue Sponsored By

    Table of Contents

    • Chips Sliding Away
    • IBM Launches Smart Cube i and Linux Appliances in the U.S.
    • New Data Center, Online Classes Put Omaha College on IT Fast Track
    • As I See It: Expectations of Immediacy
    • Bad Economy Means No Vacation for Many Americans
    • Energy Star Ratings for Servers, Release 1.0
    • IBM Does More Deals to Move Iron
    • Distributors Arrow and Avnet Deal with the Meltdown
    • Ready for an Attitude Adjustment? Visit YiPs Sandbox and Try webERP
    • COMMON Europe Needs Your Input on Top i Concerns

    Content archive

    • The Four Hundred
    • Four Hundred Stuff
    • Four Hundred Guru

    Recent Posts

    • With Power11, Power Systems “Go To Eleven”
    • With Subscription Price, IBM i P20 And P30 Tiers Get Bigger Bundles
    • Izzi Buys CNX, Eyes Valence Port To System Z
    • IBM i Shops “Attacking” Security Concerns, Study Shows
    • IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 27, Number 26
    • Liam Allan Shares What’s Coming Next With Code For IBM i
    • From Stable To Scalable: Visual LANSA 16 Powers IBM i Growth – Launching July 8
    • VS Code Will Be The Heart Of The Modern IBM i Platform
    • The AS/400: A 37-Year-Old Dog That Loves To Learn New Tricks
    • IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 27, Number 25

    Subscribe

    To get news from IT Jungle sent to your inbox every week, subscribe to our newsletter.

    Pages

    • About Us
    • Contact
    • Contributors
    • Four Hundred Monitor
    • IBM i PTF Guide
    • Media Kit
    • Subscribe

    Search

    Copyright © 2025 IT Jungle