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PC power management

Power management of personal computer hardware

PC power management refers to software-based mechanisms for controlling the power use of personal computer hardware. This is typically achieved through software that puts the hardware into the lowest power demand state available, making it an aspect of green computing.

A typical office PC uses about 90 watts when active (approximately 50 watts for the base unit, and 40 watts for a typical LCD screen); and three to four watts when ‘asleep’. Up to 10% of a modern office’s electricity demand can be due to PCs and monitors.

While most PCs allow low power settings, there are frequently situations, especially in a networked environment, where processes running on the computer will prevent the low power settings from taking effect. This can have a dramatic effect on energy use that is invisible to the user. Operational testing has shown that on any given day an average of over 50% of an organization's computers will fail to go to sleep, and over long periods of time this affects over 90% of machines. This leads to most computers having the option of customizing power management systems and has created a market for third-party power management software to further control a computer’s power use.

Windows 'Insomnia' (Sleepless PCs)

The Windows power management system is based on an idle timer. If the computer is idle for longer than the pre-set time, then the PC may be configured to sleep or 'hibernate'. Windows uses a combination of user activity and CPU activity to determine when the computer is idle.

Applications can temporarily inhibit this timer by using the 'SetThreadExecutionState' API. There are legitimate reasons why this may be necessary such as burning a DVD or playing a video. However, in many cases applications can unnecessarily prevent power management from lowering power demand. This is commonly known as Windows 'Insomnia' and can be a barrier to successfully implementing power management.

Common causes include:

Legacy or non-power management-aware applications
Open file handles on remote computers
Faulty mice or mouse jigglers, which can cause cursor movement even though the user is not present.
Scheduled maintenance tasks causing significant CPU activity
High network activity

Software solutions

Operating systems have built-in settings to control power use. Microsoft Windows supports predefined power plans and custom sleep and hibernation settings through a Control Panel Power Options applet. Apple's macOS includes idle and sleep configuration settings through the Energy Saver System Preferences applet. Likewise, Linux distributions include a variety of power management settings and tools.

There is a significant market in third-party PC power management software offering features beyond those present in the Windows operating system. Notable vendors Data Synergy's 'PowerMAN', Faronics' 'Power Save', and Verdiem's 'SURVEYOR'.

Some studies have suggested that power management tools can save on average 200 kg of CO2 emissions per PC per year and generate $36 per PC per year in energy savings.

Comparison

The following tables compare technical information for a commercial PC power management software suites. Please see the individual products' articles for further information. The table only includes systems that are widely used and currently available.

Software	Data Synergy PowerMAN	Energy Star EZ GPO	Faronics Power Save	Verdiem Surveyor	License	64-bit Support	Active Directory Integration	Group Policy Configuration Support	Per-user Policy	Per-machine Policy	Anti-insomnia	Sleep on idle	Hibernate on idle	Power-off on idle	Logout on idle	Standby display on idle	Scheduled Sleep/Hibernate	Scheduled power-off	Scheduled Reboot	Scheduled wake-up (without WoL)	Remote wake-up (with WoL)

References

Sleepless of Seattle; Why Windows Power Management Doesn't Always Work, Mark Blackburn, Strategy Analyst, 1E, January 2009.
"SetThreadExecutionState Function". Microsoft.
"Windows 10 help". Microsoft.
"Use the Energy Saver settings on your Mac". Apple.
"Power management". ArchLinux.
"Power Management Software for Windows Workstations".
"Energy Star Commercial Packages List".
The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. "HMC: A Practical Guide to Sustainable Building for Schools".
"University of Oxford Low Carbon Project: Energy and the networked computing environment".
(April 29, 2008). "Powering down and ramping up". Business in Vancouver.
Francis, Russ. (September 29, 2005). "B.C. Hydro adds energy-efficient software to online catalogue". ITBusiness.ca.
(March 2018). "How Dell Does IT: Energy Efficiency, Dell Cuts energy costs by up to 40% with a new power management plan".
"OK Computer: EMA in Practice - article, The Environmentalist, Issue 77, 5 May 2009, Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment".
"Power Management Software for Windows Workstations".
"Energy Star Commercial Packages List".
Data Synergy. "PowerMAN/PowerMON Installation and Administration Guide".
Terra Novum. "EZ GPO Features".
Faronics. "Faronics Power Save Key Features".
Verdiem Corporation. "Surveyor Data Sheet".

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

personal-computers sustainable-technologies computers-and-the-environment power-supplies

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