Low-power PC

Forum about Domotica, home automation and saving energy.
User avatar
Snelvuur
Forum Moderator
Forum Moderator
Posts: 3156
Joined: Fri Apr 06, 2007 11:01 pm
Location: Netherlands
Contact:

Low-power PC

Post by Snelvuur »

3tb of current data? if i got 200gb of storage to keep with me, its much (mp3 collection + foto's + mail/post) movies programs and stuff i dont care.

// Erik (binkey.nl)
Digit
Global Moderator
Global Moderator
Posts: 3388
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2006 10:23 am
Location: Netherlands
Contact:

Low-power PC

Post by Digit »

Erik,
Consuming more energy is never good. So why would you want that? Just tell me what you consume right now. I don't know. And RAID1 is nice. So we agree on that. So what's your point?
Digit
Global Moderator
Global Moderator
Posts: 3388
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2006 10:23 am
Location: Netherlands
Contact:

Low-power PC

Post by Digit »

I've got 1TB of current data. But that changes every minute ;-)
User avatar
Snelvuur
Forum Moderator
Forum Moderator
Posts: 3156
Joined: Fri Apr 06, 2007 11:01 pm
Location: Netherlands
Contact:

Low-power PC

Post by Snelvuur »

@digit: i dont really have a point, but i'am just saying that if i want to have 3 machines up and running 24/7 then i will just do that. I'am now around 6000 kwh a years, which should get lower in the new house too. I mean i can understand a point about childrens childrens at all, but the fact that i'am researching for less energy is a good thing. I will not turn off a machine i think i want to have off based on "more energy consumption is bad" instead i would rather tweak it to use less.

// Erik (binkey.nl)
MindBender
Advanced Member
Advanced Member
Posts: 640
Joined: Sun Apr 30, 2006 5:31 pm
Location: Netherlands
Contact:

Low-power PC

Post by MindBender »

Here's an affordable low-power mainboard, including 1200MHz Celeron CPU for 66 Euro:
http://www.samenkopen.net/action_product/231965/170980
Bwired
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 4704
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2006 1:07 am
Location: Netherlands
Contact:

Low-power PC

Post by Bwired »

That is a good looking mainboard with a good price, any idea what the total power drain will be? (approximate)
User avatar
TANE
Forum Moderator
Forum Moderator
Posts: 4806
Joined: Fri Apr 06, 2007 9:46 pm
Location: Netherlands
Contact:

Low-power PC

Post by TANE »

My HS is running virtuel on my server. (usage 110 watt)
Next week I will try to run HS virtual from my Acer MCE.(usage 60 watt)
To do this i need to make my CTX35 virtual via Rfxcom ethernet.
If this will work i will also convert my server to VMware and also run this one form my MCE.
MCE is going to standby when not in use..power usage is than 6 watt.
The problem is that the standby is not always working okay....system will not wakeup sometimes (Vista..same problem as Windows XP)

When both machines are running virtual i have to disable standby on the MCE.
Maybe 2GB more memory...at the end my saving will be +/-50 watt/h..and no need for extra investments in hardware.
Digit
Global Moderator
Global Moderator
Posts: 3388
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2006 10:23 am
Location: Netherlands
Contact:

Low-power PC

Post by Digit »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Chak</i>
To do this i need to make my CTX35 virtual via Rfxcom ethernet.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Yep, getting rid of Serial/USB is almost a must when you go virtual.
Bwired
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 4704
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2006 1:07 am
Location: Netherlands
Contact:

Low-power PC

Post by Bwired »

please explain, I did not work with a virtual server combined with input output like RS232 and USB. Is it not possible work with those ports from within a virtual server.
User avatar
TANE
Forum Moderator
Forum Moderator
Posts: 4806
Joined: Fri Apr 06, 2007 9:46 pm
Location: Netherlands
Contact:

Low-power PC

Post by TANE »

There is support for RS232 and USB in Vmware.
I'm using both options with no problems..

When there is no physical connection to the host machine you can run the VM's from any machine.

I can't use my MCE as host at the moment because of the RS232 connection what i need for the CTX35.
Digit
Global Moderator
Global Moderator
Posts: 3388
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2006 10:23 am
Location: Netherlands
Contact:

Low-power PC

Post by Digit »

From what i've seen for myself:

Host VMWare 2.0 Beta, with guests:
- Windows 2000 USB support no(?), Serial yes
- FC4 USB support no(?), Serial yes
- FC8 USB support yes, Serial yes

Haven't tried W2K3 yet.

From what i've read about Hyper-V:

Serial ports per VM: 2
And no USB support at all, as with earlier virtualization products from MS. But MS has got 180 days time to surprise us...[:D]

And as Chak pointed out, physical connections are actually 'not done' when virtualizing your machines. You limit your VMs to a particular machine.
User avatar
TANE
Forum Moderator
Forum Moderator
Posts: 4806
Joined: Fri Apr 06, 2007 9:46 pm
Location: Netherlands
Contact:

Low-power PC

Post by TANE »

I'm using the VMware server 1.04
There is USB and serial support in guest Windows XP
Serial: CTX35
USB1: Irtrans
USB2: Plugwise USB sender/receiver


On My Imac I have installed Vmware Fusion
Also support for both...only problem there is no serial port on the Mac.


VMware Server 2 (freeware)

Web-based management interface: A new Web-based user interface provides a simple, flexible, intuitive and productive way for you to manage your virtual machines.

Expanded operating system support: VMware Server now supports Windows Vista Business Edition and Ultimate Edition (guest only), Windows Server 2008 (Longhorn Server Beta 3), Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 and Ubuntu 7.1, among others.

Greater scalability: Take full advantage of high-end hardware with support for up to 8GB of RAM per virtual machine, up to two virtual SMP (vSMP) processors and up to 64 virtual machines per host.

64-bit guest operating system support: Run high-performance operating systems in virtual machines with support for Intel EM64T VT-enabled processors and AMD64 processors with segmentation support.

Support for VIX API 1.2: This feature provides a programming interface for automating virtual machine and guest operations.

Support for Virtual Machine Interface (VMI): This feature enables transparent paravirtualization, in which a single binary version of the operating system can run either on native hardware or in paravirtualized mode.

Support for USB 2.0 devices: Transfer data at faster data rates from USB 2.0 devices.
Digit
Global Moderator
Global Moderator
Posts: 3388
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2006 10:23 am
Location: Netherlands
Contact:

Low-power PC

Post by Digit »

A new chapter...
I built a new server that will replace my 3 24/7 PC's. These are the specs:

GigaByte GA-P35-DS4 motherboard
Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 2.66 GHz
4 GB Memory
Seasonic S12II-380 380 Watt 80+
2 * WD RE2-GP 1 TB
2 * Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250 GB
Matrox Millenium videocard (a golden oldie [:)])
Additional RTL8139 NIC

Power @ idle: 60W
Power @ 50% : 70W

Not bad IMO, considering the storage & CPU power you get and that this will replace >200W that is running now. I haven't done anything on tuning this machine yet, so maybe i'll be able to get even lower in the next couple of days.
User avatar
TANE
Forum Moderator
Forum Moderator
Posts: 4806
Joined: Fri Apr 06, 2007 9:46 pm
Location: Netherlands
Contact:

Low-power PC

Post by TANE »

sounds good.

I'm also going to build my next server in the next weeks.

CPU E8500
4 or 8 GB memory
Asus mainboard with build in Video G31 or G33 chipset
2 X WD 500 GB Disk
Nexus 350 PSU

My goal is to reduce the power consumption of my current server from 110 Watt to 40 watt
Bwired
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 4704
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2006 1:07 am
Location: Netherlands
Contact:

Low-power PC

Post by Bwired »

Real good upgrade, this will show up in your energycharts!
Post Reply

Return to “Energycontrol & Home Automation Forum”