Server/Switch/Router : Power consumption

Hi Everybody,
I hope you are having a nice day. Does anyone have any advise for evaluating our labs power consumption? There doesn't seem to be any quick answers. For example, should I keep my Cisco 3560 running 24 hours a day as my home switch, or should I use a little Linksys WRT instead? Another example: Should I keep my Plex server on a little OptiPlex or is it ok to user a heavier Power Edge? How much is the difference in power savings? Is there any tools to help monitor this on a home lab level?

Any advise is appreciated.

Thanks!
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joelsfood

UPS Selector

As a quick example to have estimated numbers to answer your questions

Cisco Catalyst 3560-24TS
45 Watts

Linksys WRT310N Wireless-N Gigabit Router
12 Watts

Dell PowerEdge 2950 III
549 Watts

PC/Workstation
108 Watts

PC/Workstatino was configured as an I3 with 3 hard drives, Poweredge was configured as dual quad xeon with 5 SAS drives

joelsfood

This is part of the reason my lab is encompassed on my desktop and a dual core HP micro server (with fanless Zyxel gigabit switch). I can do most everything I need in VMs, and that allows me to keep my power usage and noise down. Including running Plex on a 2012 VM on the microserver

ampdeck

joelsfood wrote: »

UPS Selector

As a quick example to have estimated numbers to answer your questions

Cisco Catalyst 3560-24TS
45 Watts

Linksys WRT310N Wireless-N Gigabit Router
12 Watts

Dell PowerEdge 2950 III
549 Watts

PC/Workstation
108 Watts

PC/Workstatino was configured as an I3 with 3 hard drives, Poweredge was configured as dual quad xeon with 5 SAS drives

great info. I have same concern as I have 4pcs 3560 48ports switch that Im labbing but worried that our electricity bill would go UP

ampdeck

Ive also found this datasheet below

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/switches/catalyst-3560-series-switches/data_sheet_c78-530976.pdf

clarson

at $0.10/kilowatt, the equipment will use less than 2 cents of electricity per hour. 50 cents per day. $15 per month if running 24/7. and add a few dollars for cooling costs this time of year. So, yes you will notice that. But, your air conditioner is adding a lot more to your bill this time of year.

by equipment i'm talking about 4 3560's.

I had 4x 2811, 2x 3560, 2x 3750 in a lab and they were drawing less than 3 amps of electricity total.

a 3560 draws about 4x the power of a wrt. so every dollar on the wrt means 4 with the 3560. or about $25 more per year running 24x7

as far as tools, near me the libraries check out those kill-a-watt devices.

myself I have rack mount pdus. one gives me the voltage, the other tell me the amps.

ampdeck

clarson wrote: »

at $0.10/kilowatt, the equipment will use less than 2 cents of electricity per hour. 50 cents per day. $15 per month if running 24/7. and add a few dollars for cooling costs this time of year. So, yes you will notice that. But, your air conditioner is adding a lot more to your bill this time of year.

by equipment i'm talking about 4 3560's.

I had 4x 2811, 2x 3560, 2x 3750 in a lab and they were drawing less than 3 amps of electricity total.

a 3560 draws about 4x the power of a wrt. so every dollar on the wrt means 4 with the 3560. or about $25 more per year running 24x7

as far as tools, near me the libraries check out those kill-a-watt devices.

myself I have rack mount pdus. one gives me the voltage, the other tell me the amps.

great info thank you!

ampdeck

clarson wrote: »

at $0.10/kilowatt, the equipment will use less than 2 cents of electricity per hour. 50 cents per day. $15 per month if running 24/7. and add a few dollars for cooling costs this time of year. So, yes you will notice that. But, your air conditioner is adding a lot more to your bill this time of year.

by equipment i'm talking about 4 3560's.

I had 4x 2811, 2x 3560, 2x 3750 in a lab and they were drawing less than 3 amps of electricity total.

a 3560 draws about 4x the power of a wrt. so every dollar on the wrt means 4 with the 3560. or about $25 more per year running 24x7

as far as tools, near me the libraries check out those kill-a-watt devices.

myself I have rack mount pdus. one gives me the voltage, the other tell me the amps.

Hi clarso, would you be able to share the brand/model of your pdu? Im interested in getting those. thanks.

slinuxuzer

Keep in mind when doing your power calcs. there is max, typical and minimal, typical is usually what is seen in a prod environment, at home your likely to run closer to minimal. Exactly how much power something will use is always a function of three things.

1. Delivery 110/208v, AC/DC, single/three-phase. Each delivery has its own characteristics. In short, you probably don't have DC in your house, if you could get it on 208v you would draw less KW and thereby less $.

2. Configuration - In a typical server the processors will have a max rating of anywhere from 65-110w, then your memory chips are the next biggest draw followed by hard drives. More processors, chips, drives, more minimal draw per each component.

3. Utilization - load matters. If your gear is busy and those network ports are pushing lots of packets you'll draw more power.

As far as cooling goes, a good rule of thumb is for each watt of electricity you consume you will generate 3.4 BTU/hr, also keep in mind the average human will generate 400 BTU/hr.