Power Consumption Help

[foolishlywise]

I come to the masters of home/ent servers with a question. A question that has had the seniors in my family bring out calculators, pens and many sighs... power efficiency.

Long story short, I have a server that seems to be taking 212w (figure given by Corsair LINK - H1000i installed). It needs to come down a lot.

The components are as such (and, if known, rough power estimates next to them).

*Tyan S7012 (without built in SAS, all 4 RJ45's populated)
Corsair HX1000i (not purchased for this, it was a spare I had on the shelf so it was used)
*2x Intel X5570 processors - TDP 130w - looking to replace these with L5630's come Tuesday
*52GB DDR3 Reg RAM (6 sticks of 8GB + 1 stick of 4GB)
*1x WD RED 3TB, 1x WD RED 4TB, 1x Hitachi Deskstar 7200 1TB, 1x WD Blue WD10JPVT 2.5in, 1x WD Green 2TB and two SSD's
HP StorageWorks 1760 HH Internal SAS (apparently idle power cons 18w)
1x Intel 9404PT 4 Port NIC all populated
1x Intel 9402PT 2 Port NIC all populated
2x Dell H310 (albeit one isn't being used - 16w total for the HBA's)
1x Fujitsu D2616 for the tape (8w guess)
2x Noctua AF-14 fans, 2x Fractal Design 140MM R2 fans and 1x Cooler Master 120mm fan along with a couple Noctua 90mm fans on the heatsinks (negligible power?)

Any ideas to get this down would be great! The Link reading is attached too.

 

[Rand__]

Use Case, Budget, Constraints ... all missing

1. Things that run need power
2. If it doesnt run take it out or disable it
3. If it uses too much power replace it with a lower power consuming part if you can
4. Activate power saving features, reduce uptime if possible

Else not much you can do.

With more info its possible to give better recommendations.

 

[Evan]

For dual 55nn/56nn series system with ddr3 actually does not sound bad with all the other items.

Can reduce NIC's ?
Consolidate spinning disks to new larger helium ones ?
HBA's are power hogs so kick out the not used ones.
Fans do use some , maybe more than you expect but I don't have a feeling for this models, I am just thinking about normal server fans.

At the end without changing too many things it's not cost effective to see a massive reduction I would think.

 

[foolishlywise]

@Rand__ hello again! Should've included, I apologise!
Use case: Storage server (10TB-ish) with Hyper-V installed; Exchange 2016 on VM1 (5 proc), pfSense on VM2 (5 proc), a Windows 10 Pro instance for use with my MacBook Pro via RD (4 proc).
Budget: I'm a student right now - I guess budget would be around $200-250 for changes to the system
Constraints: Not too loud with the change and needs to be okay with Hyper-V so yes. Processors open to change, disks not so I don't think.

@Evan Reduction in NIC's might be possible tbh (teaming is a bit overkill right now) - I might look to remove the 9404PT since the board has 4 NIC's already. I literally saw I had a 9404PT in the parts box so in it went!
The PERC H310 can come out as its got zero attached to it so until it needs to be in there I'll remove and see what the deal is.
Consolidation right now is a tiny bit inconvenient, but worth considering, thanks! Fan's are consumer grade purposely for noise issues.

I've managed to get some L5630's at a reasonable price - I'm drawn to the 40w max TDP - as looking at HWMonitor for the CPU power draws, it jumps around to 103w to 28w to 103 to 14 to 105w and yes, over and over constantly even at everything idle. I have no idea if they would drop the power use in dual-socket mode but worth a try. Will update as soon as they're in!

 

[cheezehead]

My dual E5645 box is drawing around 200w with 8x7k spinners in it. The proc swap you are planning on will save about 25-30w I'm guessing.

Other things to consider
1) If you don't really need it, try pulling a proc
2) Take a look at the power/thermal mode in the BIOS....try changing it to the low power option
3) Consolidate and pull any extra HBA that you can
4) I've got fans that can take 30w/each when running at full bore....if they are running at full speed, it should be easy to lookup online the part# to find the power draw
5) Does the box need to be on 24x7? ....if not, you could have it auto-sleep during times when you don't use it.
6) How much ram are you actually using?....if only using 16GB, then pull the extra dimms. DDR3 ECC dimms were generally 2-3w/each when I was testing.

Some questions
1) 6x1GB nic ports active?...um why?
2) 3x HBA/Raid controllers.....why?
3) is there any backplane in your chassis that we also need to factor in?
4) What OS?
5) What kind of workloads are you running?
6) "It needs to come down a lot" .....what is the max draw you can have?

 

[foolishlywise]

1) 6x1GB nic ports active?...um why?
2) 3x HBA/Raid controllers.....why?
3) is there any backplane in your chassis that we also need to factor in?
4) What OS?
5) What kind of workloads are you running?
6) "It needs to come down a lot" .....what is the max draw you can have?

Pulling the processor has crossed my mind - however the workload would need to be assessed properly. BIOS is a bit silly - I've had a look at it and set it to the most efficient settings seemingly. PERC H310 HBA going to be pulled ASAP (one storage, one tape drive).
Fans are standard things, using P=I/V they take under 8w rounded together.
Box does need to be on 24/7 and RAM - it can rise up to 34GB with compression stuff running.

In response to:
1) The network is used by nearly everyone at home. All computers are either 1GBe wired or 802.11ac wireless. Having the multiple GbE ports teamed to give throughput to the storage element of the server. Three of them are teamed to the Exchange VM for redundancy, two on the Windows VM for redundancy and others either for pfSense. One is left for BMC duty (so that's not used in Windows at all). Albeit the 4 port NIC is under review.

2) 1 for tape, 1 for actual storage and 1 that I thought was going to be used for storage but then it wasn't - pending pull.
3) No backplane. Literally, its a Fractal Design XL R2 with SAS breakout cables.
4) Server 2016 for the core server (Win 10, 2016 and pfSense in VM's)
5) Storage mainly, compression of archives and some video rendering along with its Hyper-V duties.
6) Max draw: 115w would be the ideal. 10%+ is acceptable

 

[cheezehead]

Do you have a switch that supports vlans? If so, you could pull one of the two add-on nics. Regardless of how much you pull from it, given your workload and hardware requirements...i'd be surprised if you were under 140w.

To really drop below that, you'll be looking at newer generation gear. Which could draw well under 115w at the cost of additional hardware at which point how much is it worth it to you being at 115w or below?

 

[Rand__]

I agree with the newer gear. Only that will really get you down 'significantly'.
And you might want to reconsider your CPU assignments - don't think you need 5 CPUs for Exchange, do you?
That would go down with newer gear also.

Check utilization of your VMs to find additional saving points - you might get by with only a single (newer gen) CPU

 

[foolishlywise]

Do you have a switch that supports vlans?

Unfortunately not. Previously looked down this avenue to no avail.

I agree with the newer gear.

Any suggestions on newer mobo/cpu's? If I can source it at a reasonable price I wouldn't mind exploring this!



Cheers for your help btw, much appreciated!

 

[Rand__]

Depends on your budget
If you can live with 32GB then maybe an older E3, else an older E5 (v1/2) maybe

 

[StammesOpfer]

Swapping the L5630 in will make a sizeable difference. Pull the extra cards (NIC and H310). If you want to pursue vlans on a switch you can get smart switches (not fully managed but can do vlans) for dirt cheap. That is about the best you can do on little to no budget. Dual L5630's will run you current load fine. Going to a E5 is going to cost you on the motherboard side and an E3 is going to be expensive for Unbuffered ECC ram.

Also please remove that one random 4gb stick of ram. These CPUs are triple channel so you not only have a size mismatch but also you have one channel on one CPU with a weird mismatch. It may work but you mentioned that you aren't utilizing all your RAM and it isn't helping and hey it will save a couple watts too.

 

[Tom5051]

It doesn't sound like your system is excessively drawing power. Other than the above suggestions, you should work out how much electricity you could afford if you didn't upgrade it. What I'm suggesting is that it could well cost more in upgrade parts than you'd end up saving in power over the life of the server.

Other options are to suggest to the seniors than you could do jobs around the house or perhaps put some money towards the bill or point out the benefits of your server to them (make something up).

Look for other things around the home that could be made more energy efficient such as old school light bulbs that can be changed to a lower power option.

Move out of home?

 

[cheezehead]

Unfortunately not. Previously looked down this avenue to no avail.

Any suggestions on newer mobo/cpu's? If I can source it at a reasonable price I wouldn't mind exploring this!

Cheers for your help btw, much appreciated!

The go to switch I've been using anytime I need gig + vlans and nothing fancy has been a Procurve 1810G-24 (J9450A)...hovers at 10-12w usage and is fanless...really depends on how many ports you need. These can be picked up for around $50-60 shipped when they popup cheap on eBay.

Depends on how much you want to spend, if your going new then a lower priced E5 v4 proc if you don't want as much flexibility on expansion then the Xeon D setups are a good option as well. If your more budget bound then i'd move to an E5 v1 or v2 setup. In either of these scenarios a single proc should give you more than enough processing power for you needs. Also, on newer procs don't run your power numbers based upon TDP....TDP is good for factoring cooling requirements but no longer wattage...Look online for reviews that have the actual idle and load usage numbers.

 

[foolishlywise]

Pull the extra cards (NIC and H310).

Also please remove that one random 4gb stick of ram.

This. The NIC wattage specified by Intel is 12w, so that's coming out. I've worked a plan as to how I can get it all working with the existing kit I have (4 ports GigE on the mobo and a dual port PCIe NIC for pfSense). Pull pending tomorrow. Including the random 4GB I found lying around and shoved it in for bants.

@Tom5051 This is totally true, the cost/benefit analysis is pretty tight though over the expected lifespan.

Funnily enough, I suggested I pay for its running/make up for it. This was swiftly rebuffed - apparently if it can be made as 'efficient as possible without screwing up' it's all good. Lights have all been changed since 100w bulbs were phased out round here in good old Blighty. The use case to seniors already sorted - literally now just getting it as low as can be!

On moving out: Cost/benefit again, as well as rent being astronomical and living 15mins away from university regardless. Give it a year.. its buffering!

@cheezehead The ProCurve is a good shout. On the list of pending purchases. I'd be looking at the E5 V1's - if a cheap motherboard does come up, I'm sure my overdraft will scream at me to use it.


Quick update on the L-series processors: they're arriving tomorrow so I'll pop them in and see what happens. After some sleuthing, it seems to be another household item that was causing stupid electric usage, not the server. Hmmm. More soon.

 

[Evan]

Oh 200w is a pretty obscene amount of power to be using for just this in mind anyway.... (for a home server)
It could be a system using less than 50w. Sure maybe not the cheapest hardware, I would say a for core Xeon-D system would pay for its self in 2 years or so with power saving. (Assuming power is around or over $0.25/kwhr)

 

[cheezehead]

(Assuming power is around or over $0.25/kwhr)

That's a big assumption, if power prices are extremely high then your ROI on ultra low-power boxes is pretty quick. My electric costs are $0.09970 per kWh.....the ROI for dropping an additional 80w on a box just isn't there.

 

[Evan]

That's a big assumption, if power prices are extremely high then your ROI on ultra low-power boxes is pretty quick. My electric costs are $0.09970 per kWh.....the ROI for dropping an additional 80w on a box just isn't there.

Agreed, that's why I did qualify it.
In general USA context power is cheap as I understand except Hi and Ca.

Less power also = less heat and if you use Aircon the again saving, the heat may be nice to have for some cooler climates though

Still just for saving the world I like low consumption

 

[foolishlywise]

Update time: with L5630's, the other H310 pulled, the random 4GB DIMM pulled and the Intel 4 port also pulled, system is now pulling 140-150w from the wall. This, fed into the electric calculations done is acceptable as the house is going to be pulling circa 200w at night/idle periods total. All good. However, new hardware is possibly on the cards in a few months.

Sure maybe not the cheapest hardware, I would say a for core Xeon-D system would pay for its self in 2 years or so with power saving. (Assuming power is around or over $0.25/kwhr)

Power around here (converted to usd) is $0.2/kwh. Xeon-D is drool-worthy power savings but the form factor and BGA'ed chips make me think 'hmmmmmm'. Potentially looking at the E5 V3 or above if I were to replace hardware this summer.