The aim of this section of the Low Carbon ICT wiki is to provide information that helps IT managers and end-users to minimise the electricity consumption by PCs and laptops when they are not doing useful work. Desktop computers are left on to:

• Allow ICT manager to install software patches
• Save the time required to start up a computer from off
• Allow remote backup services to access computers
• Allow end-users to have remote access to their computer (e.g. to retrieve files)
• To run email filtering processes
• To run 'keep-alive' processes e.g. using SSH clients

Unfortunately, since these events are typically short-lived, keeping computers on for these reasons means that they are still likely to consume large amounts of electricity without doing useful work. It is possible to provide a tools to for end-users and ICT managers to reduce this wasted energy. However, the provision of new tools will need to be accompanied by people adopting more energy efficient ways of working.TableOfContents([2])

Overview

Tools and techniques

Support

Local power management

• Automatically putting a computer into S3, S4 or S5 power states
• Issues
  • when in standby computers cannot easily be switched off automatically
  • computers don't wake from S3 or S4 reliably
  • don't want to interrupt services that may be running in background

Enable end-users to configure power management

Distribute power management setting centrally

Remote power management

Switching computers on remotely

Wake-on-LAN

• Introductory text
• ["lcict:wol"]

VPro

• http://www.intel.com/technology/vpro/index.htm

Switching computers off remotely

1. How to turn computer off remotely

More efficient working practices

create matrix of: (1) practice/ activity description (2) measure of how much energy will be saved (3) who the practice is relevant to * switching monitor off will prevent it turning on when accessing computer remotely

• implement power management