RAM | Reseller Advocate Magazine: Issue 73

By Chris Angelini

Benjamin Franklin said, “A penny saved is a penny earned.” Given the past month of solid earnings reports followed by lackluster forecasts, making money at the start of 2008 is going to mean less spending for many of your customers. Normally that’d be bad news. But resellers who know the benefits of energy-efficient hardware have the upper hand. New power supplies, the right server motherboard, and low-power desktop chips are all plays on saving serious cash in the long run.

Intel Platforms Take A Chill Pill

We were enamored with the quad-core Xeon back when its only competition was AMD’s dual-core Opteron. Empowered by 65nm manufacturing technology, the chip seemed like a great way to focus more horsepower into smaller spaces, all the while cutting back on power consumption and noisy cooling.

Matched with a comparably energy-minded platform, the Xeon might have been a landslide victor. But because Intel went with FB-DIMM memory in a bid to match the flexibility of serial links to standard DDR2 memory, power consumption went through the roof. Don’t misunderstand—-there’s nothing wrong with FB-DIMM technology from a functionality standpoint. The onboard Advanced Memory Buffer (AMB) handles writes to memory, offers better error correction, and resends the electrical signal to eliminate degradation you’d see from a traditional memory controller configuration. An FB-DIMM delivers simpler (serial) interconnects, more bandwidth, and a memory controller that doesn’t care what type of memory is behind each module’s AMB.

Start adding power consumption across the platform, though. An Intel 5000P northbridge/southbridge combination draws up to 45W of power. Eight FB-DIMM modules pull more than 80W, even at idle. Add in a pair of 50W Xeon processors and you’re up to 225W in platform components alone. In comparison, the single-chip solution used to drive Opteron motherboards is rated at 15W. Each quad-core Opteron approaches 70W each, and, according to AMD, eight 1GB DDR2 modules at idle sip less than 15W. All told, the similar AMD configuration totals 170W, despite processors that are technically less energy-efficient.

Because USB and FireWire are so similar in terms of performance, most external drives work with both of them. Higher-end units commonly add FireWire 800 support, bumping the throughput cap to 100 MB/s. FireWire 800 is less common, though, because the controller chips cost more. Generally, the only way for a reseller to enable the faster interface is through an add-in expansion card.

Apparently, the situation didn’t sit well with Intel, because its newest 5100 and 3200 series chipsets give SMBs the opportunity to go with registered DDR2 memory instead of FB-DIMM technology on their servers. The Intel 5100 Memory Controller Hub Chipset, codenamed San Clemente, is being labeled a value server platform. It supports front side bus speeds between 1066 and 1333 MHz. It’s limited to 32GB of DDR2 memory in a dual-channel setup (compared to the 5000P’s 64GB using FB-DIMMs). And it’s paired up to the desktop-oriented ICH9-R I/O controller instead of the 6321ESB. Nevertheless, you can still build some incredibly powerful configurations with the 5100 chipset, largely because of the core logic’s support for two processor sockets.

Supermicro’s new SuperServer 6015C-MTB does a great job illustrating the 5100 chipset’s potential. The 1U box centers on a Super X7DCL-i motherboard with dual LGA-771 socket interfaces, extending support for any Xeon in the 5400, 5300, 5200, and 5100 series with a 1333 or 1066 MHz front side bus. Though that excludes a handful of chips shipping with 1600 MHz bus settings, this is a play on energy efficiency. Most of the 80W and 65W Xeons run at more conservative bus speeds, so the 5100 platform works out perfectly.

The 6015C-MTB includes six 240-pin memory slots capable of recognizing 32GB of DDR2 system memory, though 24GB is more likely the max given 4GB modules. The onboard ICH9-R boasts six SATA 3 Gb/s connectors. However, the 1U chassis is only able to offer four hot-swap drive bays. There’s an available PCI Express x8 slot for expansion, along with two built-in Gigabit Ethernet network controllers. Now, do that math again, assuming a SuperServer 6015C-MTB with two quad-core Xeon E5450 processors and six 1GB memory modules. The 5100 chipset and ICH9 together draw less than 30W. The memory modules idle around 10W, and the processors chew up 160W. AMD would seemingly still have an advantage in power budgeting. Bear in mind, though, that Intel still has a handful of low-voltage Penryn-based Xeons up its sleeve. Expect quad-core models with 12MB of cache and a 1333 MHz bus setting to sip 50W or so, turning the less-is-more energy battle back in Intel’s favor.

Another Step Toward Value

Looking for an even hotter SMB value? Check out server systems centering on Intel’s 3210/3200 Bigby platform, which succeeds the 3000 series already popular for enabling single-socket Xeon configurations on the cheap. The 3210 and 3200 each add support for a 1333 MHz bus. The platform centers on DDR2 memory technology, so it’s no surprise that the 3200 series carries support over as well. Rather than top out at 667 MHz memory, however, both chipsets in the 3200 family officially work with DDR2-800. The 3200 actually boasts much better connectivity, including 16 lanes of PCI Express off of the memory controller hub and another six from Intel’s ICH9-R. Six SATA ports (including one eSATA), 12 USB 2.0 ports, and Gigabit Ethernet round out the platform’s list of integrated extras.

With the expectation that SMBs are going to be all over single-socket (read: very affordable) Xeon servers that can handle quad-core chips, Supermicro designed a handful of motherboards and barebones servers based on Bigby. Most are standard 1U configurations. The more interesting product is Supermicro’s SuperServer 5025B-T, a 2U box with much more in the way of scalability built-in. Beyond support for a single 3000 series Xeon running at front side bus speeds as high as 1333 MHz, the server’s four DDR2 slots take up to 8GB of 800 MHz memory. The 3210 MCH connects to Intel’s ICH9-R and a PXH 64-bit hub, enabling one PCI Express x8 slot, one x4 slot, two 64-bit PCI-X 133 MHz slots, and a pair of 64-bit PCI-X 100 MHz slots. Drop in a storage controller with external connectivity. Add a 10 Gb copper Ethernet card. Leverage InfiniBand. There’s enough connectivity for you to add the technologies your customer needs using whatever interface is required. And because the server is 2U tall, all six of the chipset’s SATA ports get put to use by 3.5” hot-swap bays.

In a society where Hummers sell like hotcakes despite the price of gasoline, the power your servers suck up might seem inconsequential. But when you multiply power consumption out across five, 10, or 20 machines over the course of their useful life, the savings really add up. Your customer would never expect to buy 20 servers and get the 21st for free. However, if you’re able to save 30,000 kWh over the course of four years, that’s thousands of dollars worth of energy. Putting four execution cores in a single, low-voltage processor, moving from FB-DIMM memory technology to DDR2, and using lower-power chipset components are all great ways to minimize the power your customer pulls from the wall. When money’s tight, that’s a great play to make.

At The Edge Of Eco-Friendly

There’s a price to pay for the very latest hardware, and it’s often more than monetary. If your customer wants the fastest Xeon in town, he’s going to have to cope with more than 100W of heat dissipation per chip. In a dual-CPU configuration, that’s a lot of juice.

Despite the power consumption of its highest-end processors, Intel remained competitive with AMD’s Opteron. The company took its lumps in discussions about platform efficiency when FB-DIMM modules increased the draw of fully configured 5000 series servers by as much as 60W.

Supermicro, working with memory vendor Qimonda, is taking Intel’s new 5400 series chipset update and incorporating its own tweaks to help cut back on the lofty FB-DIMM power consumption numbers. A typical module requires 1.8V in order to drive the AMB and DDR2 memory chips behind it. The latest Supermicro boards take 1.5V modules, which reduce the draw of FB-DIMM technology by about 20%, according to company representatives. Of course, Supermicro’s boards remain backward compatible with 1.8V memory. But if you’re making it a point to sell power savings, getting your hands on the 1.5V modules shaves off nearly 2W per stick, topping 15W in a server with eight slots populated by 1GB modules.

Green Power Supplies

The energy-saving story is valid on the desktop as well, even if desktop machines use a lot less power than servers. Both AMD and Intel stick with DDR2 memory, so the benefit of that technology is already baked in. Most of Intel’s dual-core Core 2 chips are rated at 65W TDP, while AMD’s low-power Athlon X2 dips down to 45W. Again, the play on low draw is right there, easily implemented using today’s most popular platforms.

Rather than focus solely on lower-power components, try making better use of the power being pulled from the wall. According to David Forster, director of channel relations at Antec, you want to start with an efficient power supply. (This also applies to servers.) In North America, power supplies convert 120V AC power to low-voltage DC power. Typically you’ll see supplies rated at 70% to 75% efficiency, meaning a system gobbling 200W of DC power actually draws 250W of AC from the wall, losing 50W to heat. Obviously, a more efficient supply wastes less energy, reducing cost.

“Easy,” you say. “I’ll just look for power supplies with higher efficiency numbers and upsell the green message.” Multiple factors affect a supply’s efficiency at any given point in time, making the selection process a tad more involved than just looking at specs. Firstly, many power supply vendors are in the habit of rating their products at unrealistically low operating temperatures, artificially inflating sustained output. Advertising peak wattage instead of continuous wattage also used to be a popular trick, at least until the practice started drawing lots of negative attention. So now you’re keeping an eye out for efficient power supplies rated at real-world temperatures at sustained output levels. Bear in mind that power supplies are most efficient between 50% and 75% load. A beefy 1 kW unit drawing 200W from the wall is actually less efficient than a 400W supply operating in its optimal zone.

In the past, ambiguous specs from questionable vendors made it difficult to sift the wheat from the chaff. But now there’s a specification and certification program that can help you deploy truly efficient power supplies that you can confidently claim will save your customers serious money. The 80 PLUS guideline requires qualifying power supplies to be 80% or more energy efficient at 20%, 50%, and 100% of rated load with a true power factor of at least .9. With a guarantee like that, you know that regardless of load, the power supply in question maintains an efficiency range well beyond the PSUs in use today.

Lock onto a power supply partner who’s 80 PLUS certified and it’s easy to simplify power supply purchasing. Antec, for instance, has two product families that are 80 PLUS certified. The TruePower Quattro series is geared for the high-end enthusiasts and workstation customers, while the EarthWatts family is much more mainstream. You shouldn’t discount the company’s four other PSU lines, but between EarthWatts (which covers 380W to 500W models) and TruePower Quattro (between 850W and 1000W), you’re armed with proof that your power supplies are the most efficient.

Spreading The Word

Almost every hardware vendor you talk to has a green story to tell. Minimizing draw and maximizing efficiency happens throughout the systems you build including the power distribution unit, power supply, chipsets, processors, motherboards, memory, hard drives, and cooling solutions. The more effort you put in to saving energy, the more compelling your systems will be to budget-conscious SMBs trying to cut back on the power bill.

Want some math to prove that saving energy isn’t some flavor-of-the-week gimmick? Hit the 80 PLUS Web site at www.80plus.org and click the Calculate Your Potential Savings button. The sliding scales will help you key in the size of your customer’s infrastructure. By simply switching to 80 PLUS power supplies, a small business with 60 desktops and 10 servers will save more than $700 a year or $2,800 over a four-year equipment lifespan. That’s more than 2,500 gallons of gas and five cars off of the road. Now, add in a low-voltage CPU, DDR2 memory in your servers, a motherboard with high-quality components onboard, and enough cooling to keep all of your hardware running at peak efficiency. The savings is real and it adds up quickly when you put your mind to optimizing. When money is tight, every penny saved counts just as much toward the bottom line as money earned.