Cost to run my linux server
Ever since I migrated my linux server from an old Pentium II to a newer Pentium IV computer I've been concerned about the cost to keep it running 24 hours a day. All I knew was that it had a 400 watt powersupply, which I assumed meant that it was always drawing 400 watts. I went to Seattle City Light's website and calculated that if that was true it was costing me 82 cents a day, or about $25 a month to run. Ouch, that's a lot of money, and a lot of pollution required to generate that electricity.
Then I found out that Ryan had a little device to measure the amount of electricity a particular appliance is drawing. So I borrowed it and found out that my server was actually only drawing on average 114 watts which comes out to 23 cents a day, or $7 a month. I then checked other computers. The iMac G5 was drawing 104 watts with the monitor and 58 watts without. The Mac Mini was drawing 14 watts, and the LCD monitor I was using for it draws 32 watts.
I'm going to try to come up with a cheaper way to run my server in the future. I feel really bad about keeping a 60 watt lightbulb running longer than I need it and the server is the equivilent of keeping two 60 watts lightbulbs running 24 hours day. That's still a lot of pullution being generated for the convenience of keeping a server running.
My motherboard supports sleeping but I'm not sure that linux does. It would be ideal to put it to sleep when it's not being used. Another possibility is to use a Mac Mini as the server. It would only cost 3 cents a day to run or 86 cents a month. The only problem with that is that I want RAID with several disks. I wonder if the Mac Mini RAID add-ons spin down the disks when they aren't in use.
Then I found out that Ryan had a little device to measure the amount of electricity a particular appliance is drawing. So I borrowed it and found out that my server was actually only drawing on average 114 watts which comes out to 23 cents a day, or $7 a month. I then checked other computers. The iMac G5 was drawing 104 watts with the monitor and 58 watts without. The Mac Mini was drawing 14 watts, and the LCD monitor I was using for it draws 32 watts.
I'm going to try to come up with a cheaper way to run my server in the future. I feel really bad about keeping a 60 watt lightbulb running longer than I need it and the server is the equivilent of keeping two 60 watts lightbulbs running 24 hours day. That's still a lot of pullution being generated for the convenience of keeping a server running.
My motherboard supports sleeping but I'm not sure that linux does. It would be ideal to put it to sleep when it's not being used. Another possibility is to use a Mac Mini as the server. It would only cost 3 cents a day to run or 86 cents a month. The only problem with that is that I want RAID with several disks. I wonder if the Mac Mini RAID add-ons spin down the disks when they aren't in use.