Hi,

admin of a colo-center keeps complaining my server is going
a little over power-limit (which they have set as ~120W per
24h/avg, while my server needs ~130-135W). So I need to find
a way to save at least those 15W, or I will be moved to
higher tarif (which means higher costs for server-housing).

Before going hard(ware) way, I would like to try first
all possible software solutions. What I tried up to now is
cpufreqd, CONFIG_NO_HZ=y, and spindown. In addition to that
I adjusted fan-speeds to a little lower values and turned
off some unneeded peripherials (in bios).

Is there anything else I could do? Any tips would be greatly
welcomed...

Jarry

--
__________________________________________________ _____________
This mailbox accepts e-mails only from selected mailing-lists!
Everything else is considered to be spam and therefore deleted.

> Before going hard(ware) way, I would like to try first
> all possible software solutions. What I tried up to now is
> cpufreqd, CONFIG_NO_HZ=y, and spindown. In addition to that
> I adjusted fan-speeds to a little lower values and turned
> off some unneeded peripherials (in bios).
>
> Is there anything else I could do? Any tips would be greatly
> welcomed...

Does you cpu support a technique like speed stepping? Then try setting
the scaling governor to ondemand

% modprobe acpi_cpufreq
% echo ondemand > /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_governor

This may be working betten than using coufreqd?

Or maybe you could lower the cpu and ram voltage in bios? But this can
cause an unstable system.

Am Sonntag, 1. April 2012, 17:04:58 schrieb Jarry:
> Hi,
>
> admin of a colo-center keeps complaining my server is going
> a little over power-limit (which they have set as ~120W per
> 24h/avg, while my server needs ~130-135W). So I need to find
> a way to save at least those 15W, or I will be moved to
> higher tarif (which means higher costs for server-housing).
>
> Before going hard(ware) way, I would like to try first
> all possible software solutions. What I tried up to now is
> cpufreqd, CONFIG_NO_HZ=y, and spindown. In addition to that
> I adjusted fan-speeds to a little lower values and turned
> off some unneeded peripherials (in bios).
>
> Is there anything else I could do? Any tips would be greatly
> welcomed...
>
> Jarry

don't use cpufreqd? Just use the ondemand cpu governor. Only run services you
need. If there is graphics hardware make sure the driver knows about power
saving. An amd card on a virtual terminal needs as much power as an amd card
in X doing heavy 3d lifting ...


--
#163933

On Sun, Apr 01, 2012 at 05:56:20PM +0200, Volker Armin Hemmann wrote
> Am Sonntag, 1. April 2012, 17:04:58 schrieb Jarry:
> > Hi,
> >
> > admin of a colo-center keeps complaining my server is going
> > a little over power-limit (which they have set as ~120W per
> > 24h/avg, while my server needs ~130-135W). So I need to find
> > a way to save at least those 15W, or I will be moved to
> > higher tarif (which means higher costs for server-housing).

> don't use cpufreqd? Just use the ondemand cpu governor. Only run
> services you need. If there is graphics hardware make sure the driver
> knows about power saving. An amd card on a virtual terminal needs
> as much power as an amd card in X doing heavy 3d lifting ...

The following may seem obvious, but here goes...

* remove unnecessary video cards, and drivers. Most colo machines
should do OK with just a text console running on the onboard GPU.
Dump all video driver stuff "/dev/agpgart (AGP Support)" and
"Direct Rendering Manager". This assumes you're not running X on
your colo machines. mc (Midnight Commander) is a great text-based
tool, along the lines of ye olde Norton Commander.

* disable sound cards/chips in BIOS and remove drivers and kernel
support.

* Run "rc-update show" and look for any services you don't need.

--
Walter Dnes <waltdnes@waltdnes.org>

Hi,

maybe write your hw configuration first. Eg: CPUs, graphic cards, HDDs
(size, speed, type) and others.

Also provide lspci output and /proc/cpuinfo.

Then this is a server, maybe with more than one GB nic. If you dont use
spare nics disable them in bios. Do the same with other unneeded stuff.

If you can access your server and replace cards, remove everything you
dont need. Do not lower fans or dont play with cpu voltage. If you want
to run this server 24/7 it can cause serious problems. It will not save
you much power. Paradoxly this could lead to higher power usage in
some cases, because of hotter devices.

Remove spare memory cards, if you dont need much memory, etc.

Robert.

V Sun, 01 Apr 2012 17:04:58 +0200
Jarry <mr.jarry@gmail.com> napsáno:

> Hi,
>
> admin of a colo-center keeps complaining my server is going
> a little over power-limit (which they have set as ~120W per
> 24h/avg, while my server needs ~130-135W). So I need to find
> a way to save at least those 15W, or I will be moved to
> higher tarif (which means higher costs for server-housing).
>
> Before going hard(ware) way, I would like to try first
> all possible software solutions. What I tried up to now is
> cpufreqd, CONFIG_NO_HZ=y, and spindown. In addition to that
> I adjusted fan-speeds to a little lower values and turned
> off some unneeded peripherials (in bios).
>
> Is there anything else I could do? Any tips would be greatly
> welcomed...
>
> Jarry
>

On Apr 2, 2012 5:00 PM, "Robert David" <robert.david.public@gmail.com> wrote:

>

> Hi,

>

> maybe write your hw configuration first. Eg: CPUs, graphic cards, HDDs

> (size, speed, type) and others.

>

> Also provide lspci output and /proc/cpuinfo.

>

> Then this is a server, maybe with more than one GB nic. If you dont use

> spare nics disable them in bios. Do the same with other unneeded stuff.

>

> If you can access your server and replace cards, remove everything you

> dont need. Do not lower fans or dont play with cpu voltage. If you want

> to run this server 24/7 it can cause serious problems. It will not save

> you much power. Paradoxly this could lead to higher power usage in

> some cases, because of hotter devices.

>

> Remove spare memory cards, if you dont need much memory, etc.

>

> Robert.

>

> V Sun, 01 Apr 2012 17:04:58 +0200

> Jarry <mr.jarry@gmail.com> napsáno:

>

> > Hi,

> >

> > admin of a colo-center keeps complaining my server is going

> > a little over power-limit (which they have set as ~120W per

> > 24h/avg, while my server needs ~130-135W). So I need to find

> > a way to save at least those 15W, or I will be moved to

> > higher tarif (which means higher costs for server-housing).

> >

> > Before going hard(ware) way, I would like to try first

> > all possible software solutions. What I tried up to now is

> > cpufreqd, CONFIG_NO_HZ=y, and spindown. In addition to that

> > I adjusted fan-speeds to a little lower values and turned

> > off some unneeded peripherials (in bios).

> >

> > Is there anything else I could do? Any tips would be greatly

> > welcomed...

> >

> > Jarry

> >

>

>


I'd rather have *more* RAM than causing unnecessary swaps.


Try using a smaller swapfile to reduce swap tendencies. You can always push a larger swapfile into service when needed.


There's also a kernel knob to set 'swappiness', but I forget what exactly. Try 'sysctl -a | grep swap'


Rgds,

On Mon, Apr 2, 2012 at 7:57 AM, Pandu Poluan <pandu@poluan.info> wrote:
>
> On Apr 2, 2012 5:00 PM, "Robert David" <robert.david.public@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>> maybe write your hw configuration first. Eg: CPUs, graphic cards, HDDs
>> (size, speed, type) and others.
>>
>> Also provide lspci output and /proc/cpuinfo.
>>
>> Then this is a server, maybe with more than one GB nic. If you dont use
>> spare nics disable them in bios. Do the same with other unneeded stuff.
>>
>> If you can access your server and replace cards, remove everything you
>> dont need. Do not lower fans or dont play with cpu voltage. If you want
>> to run this server 24/7 it can cause serious problems. It will not save
>> you much power. Paradoxly this could lead to higher power usage in
>> some cases, because of hotter devices.
>>
>> Remove spare memory cards, if you dont need much memory, etc.
>>
>> Robert.
>>
>> V Sun, 01 Apr 2012 17:04:58 +0200
>> Jarry <mr.jarry@gmail.com> napsáno:
>>
>> > Hi,
>> >
>> > admin of a colo-center keeps complaining my server is going
>> > a little over power-limit (which they have set as ~120W per
>> > 24h/avg, while my server needs ~130-135W). So I need to find
>> > a way to save at least those 15W, or I will be moved to
>> > higher tarif (which means higher costs for server-housing).
>> >
>> > Before going hard(ware) way, I would like to try first
>> > all possible software solutions. What I tried up to now is
>> > cpufreqd, CONFIG_NO_HZ=y, and spindown. In addition to that
>> > I adjusted fan-speeds to a little lower values and turned
>> > off some unneeded peripherials (in bios).
>> >
>> > Is there anything else I could do? Any tips would be greatly
>> > welcomed...
>> >
>> > Jarry
>> >
>>
>>
>
> I'd rather have *more* RAM than causing unnecessary swaps.
>
> Try using a smaller swapfile to reduce swap tendencies. You can always push
> a larger swapfile into service when needed.
>
> There's also a kernel knob to set 'swappiness', but I forget what exactly.
> Try 'sysctl -a | grep swap'

Swappiness is the knob you want to set if you want to reduce
swappiness. I set mine to 0; swap only when absolutely necessary.

In /etc/sysctl.conf:
vm.swappiness = 0

On the command line:
sysctl -w vm.swappiness=0

--
:wq

There's "powertop" that I use, which shows a listing of things that are keeping the computer busy.* And it gives recommendations on how to lower power usage (including setting kernel options, enabling/disabling stuff in /sys, etc...).* It also estimates power consumption in Watts and gives you approx time left.


Many recomendations already posted in this emails will be suggested by powertop.

Simon

On Mon, Apr 2, 2012 at 8:10 AM, Michael Mol <mikemol@gmail.com> wrote:

On Mon, Apr 2, 2012 at 7:57 AM, Pandu Poluan <pandu@poluan.info> wrote:


>

> On Apr 2, 2012 5:00 PM, "Robert David" <robert.david.public@gmail.com>

> wrote:

>>

>> Hi,

>>

>> maybe write your hw configuration first. Eg: CPUs, graphic cards, HDDs

>> (size, speed, type) and others.

>>

>> Also provide lspci output and /proc/cpuinfo.

>>

>> Then this is a server, maybe with more than one GB nic. If you dont use

>> spare nics disable them in bios. Do the same with other unneeded stuff.

>>

>> If you can access your server and replace cards, remove everything you

>> dont need. Do not lower fans or dont play with cpu voltage. If you want

>> to run this server 24/7 it can cause serious problems. It will not save

>> you much power. Paradoxly this could lead to higher power usage in

>> some cases, because of hotter devices.

>>

>> Remove spare memory cards, if you dont need much memory, etc.

>>

>> Robert.

>>

>> V Sun, 01 Apr 2012 17:04:58 +0200

>> Jarry <mr.jarry@gmail.com> napsáno:

>>

>> > Hi,

>> >

>> > admin of a colo-center keeps complaining my server is going

>> > a little over power-limit (which they have set as ~120W per

>> > 24h/avg, while my server needs ~130-135W). So I need to find

>> > a way to save at least those 15W, or I will be moved to

>> > higher tarif (which means higher costs for server-housing).

>> >

>> > Before going hard(ware) way, I would like to try first

>> > all possible software solutions. What I tried up to now is

>> > cpufreqd, CONFIG_NO_HZ=y, and spindown. In addition to that

>> > I adjusted fan-speeds to a little lower values and turned

>> > off some unneeded peripherials (in bios).

>> >

>> > Is there anything else I could do? Any tips would be greatly

>> > welcomed...

>> >

>> > Jarry

>> >

>>

>>

>

> I'd rather have *more* RAM than causing unnecessary swaps.

>

> Try using a smaller swapfile to reduce swap tendencies. You can always push

> a larger swapfile into service when needed.

>

> There's also a kernel knob to set 'swappiness', but I forget what exactly.

> Try 'sysctl -a | grep swap'



Swappiness is the knob you want to set if you want to reduce

swappiness. I set mine to 0; swap only when absolutely necessary.



In /etc/sysctl.conf:

vm.swappiness = 0



On the command line:

sysctl -w vm.swappiness=0



--

:wq