Core Parking and Microsoft Windows Computer Power Management

For years, the issue of computer power management has been, at best, an afterthought in Microsoft operating systems. I have been involved with Microsoft Windows for many years. My involvement started in 1986 when I co-authored the first book published on programming for Microsoft Windows. I have spent the last 25 years in and around Microsoft and their operating systems. I have been watching this for many years.

Microsoft Windows Power Management. It is true that Microsoft Windows have timers to power down. And device drivers could support multiple power modes. And yet, only with its most recent releases has Microsoft started making a serious investment in "Green IT" (or "Sustainable IT") and real computer power management. One of those features is called "core parking". Like so many other names of technologies from Microsoft, the name is meaningless to non-techie types. To understand this term, it helps to look at each of the words that make up the term.

Core. The term "core" refers to a CPU (the brains of the computer). A computer needs to have at least one core. Many high-end workstations will be "dual core", with 2 "logical" CPUs in one physical chip. For server systems, there might be even more. The latest version of Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 supports 256 cores.

Parking. Aside from what we do with cars, the term "parking" in computers is often encountered in the context of hard drives. To avoid damage to the physical drive surface, the drive head is moved – or "parked" – away from the read/write surface. Disk drive head parking is related to powering down. In the context of a CPU, there is no read/write head to actually park. Instead, "core parking" refers to the powering down of one (or more) of the logical CPUs.

Supported OS Versions. Which versions support core parking? Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 both support it.

Thank You, Microsoft. For many years, when I posed questions about power management at Microsoft, the answer was often "that's a hardware problem." Before these latest releases, the only folks who seemed to understand the central role that software needs to play in power management were the folks in the mobile phone and embedded divisions of Microsoft. Smart, operating-system power management appears to now be something that the operating systems can do. Thank you, Microsoft.

Reusable Materials Exchange

I only want one thing: to save the planet. This is, I admit, a large and amorphous goal.

Will it ever be accomplished? There are many changes that will need to take place. The fun part of this goal is that I keep encountering different ways that different people are also working towards this goal. I just found another one that seems very interesting and worthwhile.

There is a Reusable Materials Exchange website (www.2good2toss.com), which is sponsored by Pierce County and the City of Tacoma. Think of it like a locally-sponsored CraigsList. Things can be bought and sold, and also there are many materials that will be given away. In browsing through the website, there is everything from tires to clothing to farming materials.

Seattle has its Second Use Building Materials (www.seconduse.com), which has lots of very cool stuff. I have been wanting to buy one of those marble slabs that they have recovered from one of various high-end remodeling projects.

The Dirty Little Secret About PCs and Pollution

Cars pollute. Everyone knows that because when you turn the key, they emit exhaust and fumes. Garages need to be ventilated because of the carbon dioxide (and carbon monoxide) that cars emit.

PCs pollute as well. PCs pollute a lot more than most people might imagine. Because PCs don't emit exhaust and fumes, we don't think about that pollution. It happens in someone else's backyard. Fifty percent of the electricity in the United States is generated using coal. Burning coal is a very, very dirty way to generate electricity.

Both cars and PCs pollute. In fact, it only takes TEN personal computers to create the same amount of pollution as ONE car. That's right, the ratio is pretty small. Ten PCs running 24 hours per day, 365 days a week create the same pollution as ONE average American car (which means it gets 24 mpg and is driven 12,000 miles per year).

Many people keep their computers running all the time. But you don't have to. If you want to reduce the amount of pollution that your PC creates, you can take one simple step: turn it off when you are not using it. People don't run their cars 24 hours per day, and people shouldn't run their computers 24 hours per day.

Re-Inventing Everything

It is December 2009. We are all leaving the reboot and reset years. What is next? We need to re-invent everything.

This seems a tall order. Do I really mean "everything"? Yes and no. Not all at once, as that would be too much to do. But there are many things that need to be re-invented. We just need to do them all, but one at a time.

I started a new business this year. I call it Enovative Energy Solutions. I need to find new customers in order for the company to survive. So how do I do it? There is the "old way", but is that good enough?

The old way involves mass producing chaos and hoping that – when the dust settles – there are more good things produced then negative. The old way involves printing many letters and sending them to many people, only a few of which – 3-5% is the rule of thumb – have even the vaguest interest in what you are trying to sell. The old way involves "cold calling", which means picking up the telephone and invading people's work time to banter them into buying what you are trying to sell. In short, the old way involves wasting paper, postage, and time with making a lot of noise. It is "mass marketing pollution".

The old ways are inefficient with the use of materials and resources. But the worst offense is that the old ways involve a waste of your time and that of all the non-customers that you must encounter on your way to finding customers. What is it called when people waste your time by calling you up to ask you to buy something that you are not interested in? It is really a kind of noise pollution, delivered by the telephone rather than in person.

What are the new ways to promoting a business? You can, of course, provide information on the Internet and rely on search engines like Google and Bing for your customers to find you. You can put on seminars and invite your friends to attend and learn about what you are trying to sell.

The new ways must involve networking. Networking has always been important, and yet it is hard to quantify the benefits from them. Networking involves going to places with other people who are similarly interested in meeting new people. Networking involves talking to the people that you already have relationships with and asking them to help you find other people that they know but that you do not know. Networking involves talking to people one-on-one and asking for their help, without badgering them into letting you do what you want to do.

When does networking become selling? That is like asking to identify the moment when a stranger becomes a friend. It happens in the blink of an eye. It happens without your knowing that it is happening almost.

There are more new ways. I am committed to discovering (rather than truly inventing) them. I must be willing to accept being the recipient of a marketing / sales approach as well as being willing to engage in the act of performing those marketing / sales activities. As I discover them, I will report on them here.

Life Box and Bio-Mimicry [Again]

An earlier entry (The Life Box – Is It Biomimicry?) posed a question but gave no answer. Since then, I have found an answer. The question was left unanswered because I didn't know if ideas used in the making of the Life Box had been "taken from the genius of the natural world" (in the words of Janine Benyus, who coined the term). In hindsight it seems obvious, but I wanted to double-check with the inventor of Life Box – just to be sure.

Paul Stamets is the inventor of Life Box. He is founder and owner of Fungi Perfecti and author of five books on mushrooms. I had Thanksgiving Dinner at his house. (In the interest of full-disclosure, I must mention that Paul is my brother-in law).

I asked Paul Stamets whether the genius of nature had inspired him in creating Life Box. His business, growing mushrooms at Fungi Perfect, requires paying close attention to the patterns of Nature. Paul pointed out that he had used cardboard as compost for many years. Turning a shipping carton into ready-to-use compost, then, is a pretty obvious match for any self-respecting, self-composting gardener. And we have one example of bio-mimicry.

Then, there is the relationship between trees and mushroom mycelia. That pattern in nature is pretty hard to miss. So putting mushroom mycelia with the tree seeds in the Life Box just mimics one aspect of the ideal conditions that nature provides for tree seeds. That the seeds and mycelia may have traveled thousands of miles together in a freight train filled with Christmas presents is beside the point. And this is another example of bio-mimicry.

Then there is the manner in which the Life Box seeds are made to germinate. You put the Life Box into a very cold place – either outside or in a freezer – for two weeks. This mimics the "wake-up" call that nature gives to seeds to let them know that winter has come and gone. Once again, an example of bio-mimicry.

Three examples of how elements of Life Box were inspired by the genius of nature. How cool is that? There are doubtless other examples, but for my purposes three is sufficient.

Paul showed me a Life Box that is the perfect size for shipping books. The timing is could not have been better because I need a box with just that size. My website sells Kill A Watt power meters. The book-sized Life Box is the perfect size for shipping them in. I also sell online a computer programming book that I wrote; it should fit perfectly as well. (Life Box comes in other sizes, but I didn't see them because dinner was ready and we had to get to the table.)

As soon as we get our supply of book-sized Life Boxes – early in 2010, I expect – we will use them for all orders for Kill A Watt power meters and also all orders for my books. I can't wait!

Faronics Power Save and Microsoft Windows® 7

My company, Enovative Energy Solutions, recently become a reseller of Faronics Power Save. The Faronics website says that Faronics Power Save 3.3 is compatible with Windows 2000, XP, and Vista. My question: what about Windows 7, which started shipping last month?

Here are the results of my tests:

• Workstation Computers – Power Save 3.3 client can work with a few tweaks (details later in this post)
  
• Core Console – I was not able to get Faronics Core Console to run on Windows 7, but this is hardly a major issue because it works fine with Windows XP (or Windows Vista). With some futzing, I suspect I could make this work, but it was not a priority for me.
  

Installing FARONICS Power Save on Windows 7 required a few tricks. Neither is very tricky, both involve file compatibility settings. By way of background, workstations need two pieces installed:

1. The Faronics Core Agent provides connectivity for Power Save (and other Faronics products). Its installation file is named Faronics Core Agent.msi.
   
2. The Power Save Add-In provides the power management-specific elements. Its installation file is PowerSave_Ent_32-bit.msi for systems running 32-bit OSes.
   

The first trick starts by manually copying both files to a workstation. Set the compatibility mode for both MSI files to a "Previous version of Windows". (See the Step-by-Step section for details on how to do this.) Then run both install files (starting with the core agent installer).

After installing both components, things look okay. That is, the Core console can see the Windows 7 workstations. Look more closely. The console does not recognize the Windows version. This brings me to the second trick...

The second trick is to modify the compatibility settings to make the applications themselves appear to be running Windows Vista SP2 (instead of Windows 7). Among other things, this enables the Faronics code to know that user account control (UAC) support is present, along with other Windows Vista power management features. Details on this second trick are described below, in the step-by-step instructions section.

Step-By-Step Instructions

Details on the first trick – after you copy the MSI files to the target workstation...

1. Run Windows Explorer.
   
2. Locate the two MSI files (Faronics Core Agent.msi and PowerSave_Ent_32-bit.msi).
   
3. For each MSI file, right-click on the MSI file, and then…
   
4. Select the Properties item on the popup menu. A property sheet appears (see screenshot, below).
   
5. On the property sheet, click on the [Compatibility] tab.
   
6. Click the checkbox labeled Run the program in compatibility mode for.
   
7. Close with the [Ok] button.
   

Details on the second trick are to set the executable compatibility mode to Windows Vista SP2 for all executables and all users:

1. Run Windows Explorer
   
2. Find the Faronics core programs (\Program Files\Faronics\Faronics Core\Workstation Agent).
   
3. Locate the two executable files (EnterpriseWorkstationService.exe and FraonicsCoreAgentConfiguration.exe)
   
4. For each executable file, right click on the file, and then…
   
5. Select the Properties item on the popup menu. A property sheet appears…
   
6. On the property sheet, click on the [Compatibility] tab.
   
7. Very important step! – on the bottom of this page, click the button labeled [Change settings for all users]. A second property sheet appears (see figure, below).
   
8. Click the checkbox labeled Run the program in compatibility mode for.
   
9. Open the list below the checkbox and select Windows Vista (Service Pack 2) from the list.
   
10. Close each property sheet by clicking on the [Ok] buttons.
    
11. Follow steps 4-10 for all Power Save executable files (located here: \Program Files\Faronics\Power Save Workstation).
    
12. To enable these changes, reboot the workstation.
    

I would like to write a utility that enables all these features, and hopefully will find the time. But probably not until after Thanksgiving…

The Lights Are on but Nobody’s Home

You are, again, the last one to leave the office. You turn the lights out as you make your way towards the door. And you notice something that you have seen a thousand times before but never thought about: all the computers in your office are still on. Or, as the title of this entry suggests, the lights are on but nobody's home.

What are all those computers doing at night? In some cases, they are downloading software or security updates. Most of the time, however, they do nothing. More accurately, they burn electricity but produce no useful work. Each is like a tiny furnace, burning chunks of fossil fuel, doing nothing but – at the same time – not doing anything good. What can be done?

Isn't Electricity Clean?

But wait – electricity is a clean source of power. You don't need to worry, right? Actually, each kilowatt of electricity creates 1.33 pounds of CO2. That is the average for the United States, and is based on the fact that 50% of electricity in the United States is generated by burning coal. It is the cheapest form of fuel, which is why it is so attractive to power companies. From an environmental point of view, coal is the dirtiest and so – in environmental terms, at least – is more expensive in terms of its contribution to Global Warming. Is there a good alternative around? Yes, natural gas. Details of that will have to wait for another time.

Controlling PC Power

Computer power management – also sometimes known as "PC power management" – involves taking steps to reducing the power wasted when computers are sitting idle. At home, the best thing you can do is to turn off the computer when you are not using it. Many people already do this at home, but more people need to get on the bandwagon.

In the office – especially in larger companies – computers are generally left on all night. Why? The stated reason is that IT departments need to update software at night. And yet, the actual time needed for this activity is generally very small (a few hours per month, perhaps). During the rest of the time these systems burn electricity, grind down their parts (especially the motors, which typically turn at 5,000 - 10,000 RPM) while doing no useful work. Quite a bit of money could be saved by turning off these workstations at night and over weekends. How much?

How Much Can Be Saved?

For an example, let's go to Hawaii. It has the highest electricity rates, and so can be used to best illustrate the possible savings. If you worked in Hawaii (I am told that there are people who work there) in a firm with 100 desktop workstations and each workstation used 135 watts of power (an average amount for typical systems), the cost of electricity for each year would be about $26,000. Turning those workstations off on evenings and weekends would save your firm about $20,000 per year. That is a 76% reduction. Run the calculations for yourself by clicking on this link: http://www.enovativenergy.com/Cpm_Calculator.aspx?Systems=100&Watts=135&Rate=22.20

As attractive as Hawaii might be as a vacation destination, it does have the highest utility rates. What kind of savings would be possible for a similar firm in another location – say in Chicago? At 11.42 cents per kilowatt hour, the rates are half of those found in Hawaii. They are also closer to the average for the whole USA. The cost of running the same PCs as in the previous example (100 systems with each using 135 watts of power) is around $13,500. Turn them off on evenings and weekends, however, and those same workstations only cost $3,200 – a net savings of $10,300. Run the calculation yourself by clicking on this link: http://www.enovativenergy.com/Cpm_Calculator.aspx?Systems=100&Watts=135&Rate=11.42.

Automating PC Power Management

When there are many systems that need to be controlled, it helps to have power management software to help automate the process. This allows centralized control over many computer systems, and is surprisingly affordable. In fact, in many cases the electrical utilities will subsidize the cost of purchasing such software. For details on computer power management, check out this page on the Enovative Energy website: http://www.enovativenergy.com/cpm.aspx.