Presentation Type
Poster
Sleeping Servers: Reducing Energy Consumption of Websites
Abstract
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In 2006, an estimated 61 billion kWh of electricity was used in servers and data centers with an expected increase to more than 100 billion kWh by the year 2011. Web content servers contribute to this amount of electricity used. A web content server spends most of its time nearly idle, while consuming nearly 80% of its peak electricity usage. This means that if a web content server draws 200 watts of electricity at its peak, it will still draw approximately 160 watts of electricity when there is no request for web content. Analysis of web traffic shows that the server is nearly idle approximately half of the time. Per year, this web content server draws approximately 1,577 kWh of electricity per year, at a cost of approximately $158 per server. However, a lower-power piece of hardware can be used to serve requested content, allowing the server to sleep during idle periods. The average netbook draws approximately 10 watts of electricity. By letting the server sleep, the electricity used drops to approximately 920 kWh per year, at a cost of $92 per server. This amounts to a savings of 657 kWh per year, or approximately $66 per server. Assuming that all small to medium size businesses have a web server, the overall savings would be 3,942,000 kWh of electricity, or $394,200,000 saved per year by the nearly 6 million small to medium businesses.
Categories
Engineering/Physical Science
Research Type
Research Assistant
Mentor Information
Ken Christensen
Sleeping Servers: Reducing Energy Consumption of Websites
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In 2006, an estimated 61 billion kWh of electricity was used in servers and data centers with an expected increase to more than 100 billion kWh by the year 2011. Web content servers contribute to this amount of electricity used. A web content server spends most of its time nearly idle, while consuming nearly 80% of its peak electricity usage. This means that if a web content server draws 200 watts of electricity at its peak, it will still draw approximately 160 watts of electricity when there is no request for web content. Analysis of web traffic shows that the server is nearly idle approximately half of the time. Per year, this web content server draws approximately 1,577 kWh of electricity per year, at a cost of approximately $158 per server. However, a lower-power piece of hardware can be used to serve requested content, allowing the server to sleep during idle periods. The average netbook draws approximately 10 watts of electricity. By letting the server sleep, the electricity used drops to approximately 920 kWh per year, at a cost of $92 per server. This amounts to a savings of 657 kWh per year, or approximately $66 per server. Assuming that all small to medium size businesses have a web server, the overall savings would be 3,942,000 kWh of electricity, or $394,200,000 saved per year by the nearly 6 million small to medium businesses.
