Computers require a significant amount of electricity to operate on a university campus. In recent months, ITS has taken several steps in to reduce and manage that consumption.
With our recent upgrade of lab computers to Windows Vista, all lab computers are now set to power down after 90 minutes of inactivity. This occurs in a progressive sequence: First the monitors go off, then the hard drives go to sleep and then the whole computer hibernates. All these settings can be managed from a central console allowing ITS to further reduce consumption during campus break periods. As people become more familiar with waking them back up, those time sequences can be further reduced.
All new computers for PSU employees are pre-configured with optimal energy-saving settings.
One of the biggest consumers of energy is the data center where the system servers are housed. With upwards of 50 servers, and additional needs and services added every year, power consumption increases. Additionally, the need for air conditioning and backup power also swells. Now, when time to replace and upgrade servers, a new type of "virtual memory servers" are being used. Rather than the old method of one server per application, virtual memory servers play host to several applications, reducing overall electricity load.
You, too, can do your part. Take a look at the power settings in your Control Panels. Lower the monitor, hard drive and hibernation settings to the lowest level you can. If we all do that, our collective effort will generate considerable power savings.
And, at the end of your work day, turn off all your computers and peripheral equipment. Speakers, printers and all your e-doohickeys. Your smaller contributions will make a big difference if we all do our part.