Hello!
I have an older Pentium 3.2GHz that I use for network storage with FreeNAS. The computer is running 24/7. What steps can I take to minimize the power consumption?
Other than enabling every power-saving setting possible in the BIOS and OS, about all you can do is to make the box as bare-bone as possible - stuff like using on-board video (I’m assuming you’re running this thing headless) and possibly cutting back on installed RAM.
Keep it clean - clean heatsinks and clean fan blades will run more efficiently. The savings will be microscopic, but a clean computer is a happy computer.
The main energy pig will be that 3.2 GHz processor - it’s a bit of overkill for NAS, but unless you happen to have a 1 GHZ Atom motherboard laying around, it’s probably more expensive to change the hardware than any energy savings you’d realize from doing that.
If you’re lucky, the BIOS may have an option to regulate the CPU speed - underclocking will save a bit of power and is free to try.
If money isn’t an issue, ditch the computer (or sell it on Craigslist for like $50) and use that towards a standalone NAS box or a netbook.
Otherwise, what gotpasswords said.
Yeah, a decent standalone NAS will consume very little power compared to even a stripped down desktop box. Something like 5 W on standby, and another 10-20 W when you’re accessing data and the hard drives are spinning.
Depending on how much you’re paying for power, you can save enough on your electricity bill to justify spending $120 for this d-link NAS box. Just switch over your hard drives.
Your computer is probably consuming somewhere in the neighborhood of 100-200 watts, by comparison. At $0.10/kWh, that adds up to $7-$15 per month. If you spend $120 to replace that with a NAS that uses 10 watts on average, it pays off in a year or two.
What happens if one of those stand alone NAS boxes craps out? With FreeNAS I can move the HDs to another computer, boot from the CD and am good to go in minutes.
Can I put the HDs in a windows box and have them work right away, or are they formatted in some proprietary file system?