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Vendors promote power savings

by Stephen Withers

Tuesday, 12 December 2006

Dell's decision to launch a pair of new servers - the PowerEdge 1950 and 2950 - with a marketing message that emphasises energy efficiency is a sign of the times.

An unusually hot start to summer complete with major bushfires is helping drive public concerns about climate change, and we expect to see more IT companies joining the energy conservation bandwagon. In this context, Dell's promise of a 20 percent reduction in power consumption will get people's attention. It remains to be seen whether it will similarly capture their dollars.

Dell is not the only vendor taking this tack. VMware's recent roadshow made the point that virtualisation can save so much electricity that the power company in northern California is offering rebates to corporate customers that virtualise their data centres. Why would a for-profit electricity company want to encourage customers to use less power? The potential reduction in demand is sufficient to defer the construction of new power plants.

Recent processor announcements by Intel and AMD have delivered (or will deliver in 2007) more power per watt for desktop platforms. Not only will this help stem direct power consumption in homes and offices, it should also have an impact on air conditioning running costs. Apart from the people, what else in your office generates as much heat as a PC?
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