Resolving Issues
Power Management
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September 17, 2010 - According to a report by 1E, more than $2.8 billion is wasted annually by not shutting down or changing the power consumption mode of computers when they are not in use in the USA alone. For many businesses, purchasing a power management solution is an excellent way of maximizing power policy deployment and reducing annual operating costs by up to $75 per computer*. In addition to that, applying a power management scheme helps to decrease the company's CO2 footprint. For example, an organization with 4,000 employees would be able to make an over $160,000 per year in energy savings and reduce its CO2 emissions by over 800 tonnes**.
Regardless of which power management solution you choose, it is important that the technology impacts your end-users , IT department's need to apply critical patches and updates and management in an efficient, cost-effective way.
Typically, power management switches the system to the lowest power consumption mode after a predefined period of inactivity or powers it off completely. Every Windows-based computer has a basic power management profile that helps to reduce energy consumption and prolongs battery life of laptops and netbooks. In a corporate environment, Windows power management profiles can be controlled through Group Policy settings, but only to some extent. There are many situations when processes running on client computers prevent the Windows energy-saving settings from taking effect, thus significantly increasing the company's operating costs.
Compared to Windows built-in power schemes, paid power management solutions provide a higher level of control and enable the IT department to synchronize power management profiles and policies with system maintenance procedures.
Finding the right power management software can be an ultimately, rewarding task. Here is an overview of three most popular power solutions.
Big Fix Power Management:
BigFix Power Management is part of BigFix Unified Management Platform, which allows to integrate power management policies with patch management procedures and implement them via a single unified console. The software enables the IT department to enforce conservation policies company-wide without affecting end-user productivity thanks to the “opt-in” approach. In addition to that, BigFix Power Management automatically saves documents prior to beginning a shut down or hibernation procedure.
BigFix Power Management supports all Windows versions, as well as Mac OS X, Solaris, SUSE Linux Enterprise, and other operating systems. Its features include:
• Auto-save feature that saves open files before a shutdown or restart, preventing data loss
• Scheduled Wake-on-LAN (WoL) to enable endpoint wake-up before the start of the workday
• Tracking actual time spent in idle, active, standby, and off states, resulting in an accurate view of current power usage and cost for desktops, laptops, servers, and monitors
• “Opt-in” approach that allows users to choose from a menu of power configuration options determined by the IT administrator
One of the major benefits of BigFix Power Management is that it allows IT managers to use a single tool to identify power profile misconfigurations and automatically fix them.
Shavlik Power Management:
Shavlik Power Management is part of the Shavlik NetChk Protect Plus Power Management unified platform. This platform allows IT administrators to power off computers when they are not in use and wake them up for scheduled maintenance. This enables businesses to maximize energy savings while maintaining a positive end-user experience.
The key benefits of Shavlik Power Management are:
• Computers can be powered off at night, on weekend, or when they are not in use and then activated for maintenance
• User impact is minimized by launching the systems for the start of the work day
• Improved system maintenance thanks to the elimination of missed patch cycles
The software's feature set includes the ability to schedule power state changes, Wake-on-LAN support, enforceable power management policy, and the ability to measure cost and CO2 emissions reduction.
Windows 7 Power Management:
Microsoft Corporation paid a lot of attention to power management in Windows 7 and supplied the new operating system with innovative energy consumption management features.
Almost all editions of Windows 7 are supplied with enhanced power management options. For a start, the operating system runs with fewer background processes, which decreases CPU load and minimizes power consumption. Other innovative features include automatic screen dimming and powering off unused ports.
In addition to that, Windows 7 enables users to choose a power plan that best matches their needs. Windows 7 provides three power plans – High performance, Balanced, and Power saver. Each plan combines hardware and system settings that manage the computer's energy usage. In addition to that, users and system
administrators can create custom power plans.
The High performance plan maximizes screen brightness and increases computer productivity in certain circumstances. This plan utilizes the maximum amount of power. The Balanced plan offers high performance when needed and saves power during periods of inactivity. The Power saver plan is the most restrictive of the three, because it saves power by reducing system performance and screen brightness. However, this plan is the most energy-efficient and allows laptop users to prolong battery life.
In a business network environment, Windows 7 power consumption settings can be managed by IT administrators through Group Policy, which is an improvement over the previous Windows versions.
However, using Windows power management settings is not as effective as using paid power management solutions. The Windows Group Policy power settings can only be applied when a user logs in. Because users rarely log out of Windows, and because the Windows profile does not have persistent evaluation, there is no method for a system administrator to remotely reverse any changes made by an employee. So if a user changes any power settings, it's impossible to change them back without the user's cooperation. Thus, the built-in profile is an ineffective tool for achieving true power and cost savings.
Conclusion:
All of the above-mentioned power management solutions can help businesses to cut electricity costs, and prolong the lifetime of office computers and other equipment without interfering with system maintenance and security updates. In addition to that, applying power management technologies helps businesses to lower their CO2 footprint.
* Energy Star: General Technical Overview of Power Management
** OK Computer: EMA in Practice - article, The Environmentalist, Issue 77, 5 May 2009, Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment
Productive Corporation is a specialized software reseller that helps small and medium businesses across North America with software initiatives in security, storage and infrastructure. We provide subject matter expertise, access to technical support, and relevant content for IT staffs in the Mid-Market.
