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Are Low Power Server CPUs Worth the Cost?. Michael Fruchtman. Power Usage of a Small Server Setup. Example: Given 4 servers Server consumes 250W each at 60% United States 10-11 amps, 1200W (safety margin) Cost $300 a year Europe 5amps (higher voltage), but amps cost more $500 a year
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Are Low Power Server CPUs Worth the Cost? Michael Fruchtman
Power Usage of a Small Server Setup • Example: Given 4 servers • Server consumes 250W each at 60% • United States • 10-11 amps, 1200W (safety margin) • Cost $300 a year • Europe • 5amps (higher voltage), but amps cost more • $500 a year • Also - carbon footprint
The Judges • vApus Mark I • Simulates a consolidated virtualization load • Meant for 90-100% load comparisons • Good for HPC, not good for servers • Servers operate at 30-60% • Solution: Reduce the simulated machines by half • Simulate load of an OLAP database (4 vCPUs), OLTP database (4 vCPUs), and 2 VMs • Both CPUs can handle double this load • Measure response time, throughput, and power usage
Idle Power Usage • At idle • PCU shuts down 5 cores • Reduce clock speed • No difference at idle
Under Load • At average power use • X5670 considerably more • 25-60W more • Throughput • L5640 took 66 minutes • X5670 took 59 minutes
Total Power Use • Even power usage • L5640 and X5670 on balanced • X5670 consumed 20Wh more • Race to idle • X5670 able to race to idle and shutdown • Idle power consumption makes up for higher use
Throughput and Response Time Both graphs use the geometric mean.
Addition Statistics • L5640 at Balanced to High Perf X5670 • 69% of throughput,76% longer response time, but 91% of power consumption • L5640 at Balanced to Balanced X5670 • 76% of throughput, 34% longer response time, but 97% of power consumption • Not a good deal if you can afford it • X5670 costs $900 more than L5640 • Adds only $200 a year in power cost
Any Advantages? • Caps maximum power draw • Range of X5670 is higher • With L5640 one knows maximum draw of a server over time due to cap of 60W • Data centers have penalties if one exceeds the power allowance • Low power CPUs save power, but not energy