Congress wants us all to buy energy efficient servers...

[Deja Q]

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9584_22-6093910.html

Congress wants you to buy more energy-efficient computer servers.

It's no joke. The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday approved legislation instructing Americans to "give high priority to energy efficiency as a factor in determining best value and performance for purchases of computer servers."

SNIP

Nevertheless, Washington politicians voted 417-4 on Wednesday to tell American purchasing managers that it's in their "best interests" to pay attention to energy conservation.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican, also directs the Environmental Protection Agency to conduct a three-month study "of the growth trends associated with data centers and the utilization of servers in the federal government and private sector."

Hmmm, here's what WILL happen: Corporations move more servers overseas. They won't stand for fascism either. All of this is a smokescreen in their continuing quest to erode America. :tinfoilhat:

And it's amazing, all this blither about "America's best interests". Seems like they can vote themselves an unjustified pay increase (which means taxes go up, *ahem* ) while voting for offshoring and other things meant to destroy the American family.

When does it end?

[OhioBlue]

1. well,

I don't know what to make of this. On one hand, I encourage energy efficiency as a factor in purchasing decisions. On the other hand... computer servers? This is where they make their stand?

Why not encourage public transportation, intelligent City planning, reduction of urban sprawl, discouraging huge big box - central air - imported goods from overseas energy suckers?

Let's make it comprehensive - let's look at CAFE standards, green building codes, flex-fuel vehicles, renewable energy sources, buy local campaigns, etc.

anyway - it's never bad when the Congress as a whole promotes an energy efficient initiative. Think of framing - it is a good thing for Congress to recognize the importance of energy efficiency. It may be a small step, (and to me this one is very curious) but it does help the promotion of energy efficiency and environmental responsibility as far as PR goes...

[Deja Q]

7. Look at ALL they do. Along w/ the corporate wealthy elite & their actions

To :tinfoilhat: becomes very easy.

Especially when congress only cherrypicks what it wants done. That smells reeks of engineering. And we all know what the corporate elite will do, what with environmental standards laws being gutted. Don't forget who runs the show.

[OhioBlue]

10. Oh - I completely agree

this one reeks of lobbyist money. But, still.... a bill that promotes energy efficiency does have good PR value overall. That was my thinking.

[skids]

2. Actually this is a good thing and shouldn't be ridiculed.

And I'm way ahead of them. My private webserver and desktop UI are as of last month running on used laptops, which should pay back for themselves in less than two years in saved electricity. Slightly less powerful, but also venting a lot less waste heat into my sweltering residence.

And just because companies offer energy efficient servers doesn't mean that IT managers don't need to be encouraged to buy them. There's a culture in IT that "nothing can get in the way of performance" and it needs severe reigning in. IT managers routinely overbuy excess capacity and fire it up and leave it idle. This is mainly due to budgeting -- justify as much of a purchase as you can so when times get tight you don't find yourself in a pinch.

And culture in the front rows is such that any manager who even brought up energy efficiency in a meeting with his superiors would be at risk of being shown the door. The concept of saving money by buying cheap crap desktops with poorly engineered power electronics they grok. The concept of not letting money get sucked out those three-pronged outlets to the local utility is completely alien to all but those companies pursuing sustainability goals.

En masse they don't give a crap about the environment or the economy at large, and the only way they want to hear about the saving of money is through reducing labor costs and service contracts.

(Not to mention the majority of them have no clue that much of the software they are running is pure bloat and different solutions could get them by on 1/4 or less computing power.)

While the actual contribution of IT to power use is small by comparison to cars, buildings, and factories, every little bit helps, and it all deserves attention.

[Freedom_Aflaim]

4. Different budgets to

Its unusual when an IT manager is responsible for the energy bill that the IT devices use.

In the case of desktop systems, its not practical to track it seperately, and in the case of server rooms, its generally just lumped into the facilities budget.

[AndyTiedye]

6. My Server Draws 12 Watts

It is a 700mhz desktop made with laptop parts,
draws 12 watts, and can run off of 12 volts.
It cost $300 4 years ago. Runs OpenBSD.

[Deja Q]

8. See post #7.

Maybe, in time, I can bake a cake out of my words and eat them. But right now, why should I trust them at face value?

Because they voted themselves a pay raise, saying they need the money to support their families as they continue passing legislation that guts other environmental laws and allow offshoring?

[Pavulon]

3. DC

Most major computer rooms run ac to battery (dc) to inverter to ac. Some shops are cutting out the inverter and running machines ac to battery (dc) to dc supplies in servers.

[FloridaPat]

5. I wonder how many of our congress critters actually know what they

are or have ever seen one. This is their policy for energy conservation? How about firing every single on of them and having We the People vote directly over the internet for bills. They're useless, so no reason to pay their salaries.

[Deja Q]

9. A lot of them voted for the DMCA, and they don't know the difference

between a desktop and a doorknob.

Bidet, oops Biden, was big on the DMCA and I think he once admitted he is not computer literate.

Then there's Fritz Hollings, who has a Big Brother chip named after him.

Well, it's not Big Brother. It's Big Corporate. But I fail to see the difference.