--As of February 22, 2012 3:48:42 PM -0600, Joe Greco is alleged to have
said:
Right now my always on server is a VIA artigo 1100 pico-itx system
(replacing the G4 system) and my "router/firewall/modem" is still the el
cheapo DSL modem (which runs busybox by the way). I have an upgraded
workstation that's "sometimes on", it has a mini itx form factor (AMD
phenom2 CPU). I use debian on all systems.
I haven't measured it but I think if the set up would use 30 watts
continuously (only taking the always on systems into account) it'd be a
lot. Of course it'll spike when I fire up the workstation.
It's not extremely energy efficient but compared to some setups I read
about it is. The next step would be to migrate to a plugcomputer or
something similar (http://plugcomputer.org/).
Any suggestions and ideas appreciated of course. :-)
You want truly energy efficient but not too resource limited like the
Pogoplug and stuff like that? Look to Apple's Mac mini.
The current Mac mini "Server" model sports an i7 2.0GHz quad-core CPU
and up to 16GB RAM (see OWC for that, IIRC). Two drives, up to 750GB
each, or SSD's if you prefer.
--As for the rest, it is mine.
There is an intermediate step as well; something along the lines of an ALIX
or Fit-PC (or Netgate) board. These are boards designed for
embedded/network applications, mostly. (Although the Fit-PC looks to be
more of a thin client desktop.) Depending on the use, one can run a decent
home server on one, or even a lightweight *nix desktop.
Most of these don't actually specify what they use, power-wise; they just
list what power supply is included. Fit-PC advertises that it runs at .5
watts for standby, 8 watts fully loaded. Many of the others are probably
similar, depending on how powerful they actually are, and how you configure
them.
Daniel T. Staal
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