Microsoft Desktop and Server Energy Efficiency Calculators

Want to calculate the energy consumption and the impact of desktops and servers on the environment? Then Microsoft has the right solutions available. The Redmond company is offering customers the Microsoft Desktop Energy Savings Calculator and the Microsoft Server Energy Savings Calculator. As the names imply, the two solutions are designed to permit business users to calculate green savings. The software giant hosts two preview samples of the calculators on its “environmentally-friendly” website, both accessible via Silverlight. However, for access to the full solutions, customers will need to visit Alinean.

“Microsoft has worked with Alinean to build an online Green Savings calculator for both Desktop and Server Energy Savings,” revealed Bianca Wirth, Microsoft government technologist. According to the Redmond company, the “Sustainability Calculators [can be used] to estimate your company's carbon footprint and see the savings you can achieve through enlightened IT implementation.”

The focus on a business user audience is obvious. Even when it comes down to desktops, the calculators are not able to offer estimates for under two machines. The same is valid for servers. But even the lightweight version of the Microsoft Desktop Energy Savings Calculator offers tweaking options, including choosing between LCD and CRT monitors, between desktops and notebooks, selecting the number of PCs and the Windows version of the operating system they are running. The calculator will deliver estimates of power costs and power consumption as well as of carbon emissions.

“This calculator is designed to analyze your current PC power usage and policies and provide recommendations to help reduce energy costs and drive green IT initiatives for PC management with Windows Vista. The analysis uses a model and tool independently developed by leading ROI consultancy Alinean, Inc, and then applying default power cost and CO2 emissions metrics from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Energy Star and other research sources, calculates typical consumption, emissions and costs,” reads a message describing the tool.

When it comes down to the Microsoft Server Energy Savings Calculator, customers are able to select the number of servers as well as the degree of consolidation, with the company providing the estimative savings related to virtualization. At the same time, the calculator is capable of indicating the amount of CO2 emissions that will be cut down with extensive consolidation.

“The Microsoft Server Energy Savings Calculator was developed independently by ROI consultancy Alinean, Inc. The tool can be used to calculate the power and environmental savings and impact of planned server virtualization / consolidation initiatives on server recycling, reducing energy costs, and reducing carbon emissions. By default, the tool uses metrics from the US EPA and other worldwide sources on power costs and CO2 emissions. By reviewing and editing these defaults, the analysis can be completely personalized,” is the presentation of the server calculator.