[mythtv-users] Power Saving Frontend Ideas

Brian Foddy bfoddy at visi.com
Mon Apr 14 03:04:45 UTC 2008


On Sunday 13 April 2008, Brian Foddy wrote:
> On Sunday 13 April 2008, Rick Hudson wrote:
> > DISAFAN wrote:
> > > I'm curious for input on the issue of power saving in a frontend. What
> > > techniques people have used, setups, etc.
> > >
> > > Do you shutdown your frontend when not in use, put it in power-saving
> > > mode, leave it on?
> >
> > How little power is considered "saving power"? Less than 1W like a
> > properly designed embedded device? Some computers still use alarming
> > amounts of power even while in standby. I had a computer that drew like
> > 20W when it was supposedly off!
> >
> > I have a combined frontend and backend so so my requirements are slightly
> > different so my solution is to have an efficient computer and leave it
> > on. My whole computer only uses about 15W (measured) when it's idle with
> > the HDD spun down (OS is on flash drive) and I figure that's reasonable
> > provided all the other theatre gear (monitor, amp, sub, etc) have
> > sub-watt standby modes - which they do.
> >
> > Yes you could probably obtain a slightly lower mean power consumption by
> > using suspend-to-RAM or something but it's just too much hassle to try
> > and put a linux server into standby mode.
>
> Can you describe your machine a bit more.  15 watts of power is
> VERY low in my experience.  I too have a kill-a-watt and the lowest
> power machine I have in my house is a p2-450 that uses about 56
> watts, its a linux firewall running 24x7.  I'm ashamed to mention my
> frontend that because of bios and cpu upgrade issues, doesn't have
> any low power sleep or easily power-down options.
>
> I'd be curious in a ultra-low power firewall machine where performance
> isn't a big issue, and a much better performance HD frontend machine
> that has good sleep and power features.
>
> Thanks,
> Brian
>

I might add, even my gigabit switch and DSL modem take 12 watts.



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