Apart from the hardware side like GREEN drives a power-efficient motherboard/CPU combination and so on, are there any settings built-in the unraid server software that  can make a GREEN server?

 

There is off course the spindown of disks, How much does this effect total power consumption?

Can the server be put in a sort of "Standby mode" at say 23:30 and started at 09:00? Is there a scheduled on/off like in many NASes?

The mover schedule should perhaps be changed? Maybe moving stuff when the server has just started at 09:00?

Are there any packages/plugins that can accomplish this?

 

 

 

Sounds like you are allready mentioning a lot of things that can make the server green:

 

- use green drives

- spindown your drives after 30 or 60 minutes

- disable spinup groups (this will avoid spinning up disks with data you do not need but will sometimes give you a second or so "halted" performance, hardly an issue on my side)

- choose your user shares wisely, example:

 

I have a few kinds of data that are frequently accessed: my backup share (for my continuous backup), my incomming torrents. I have put both on the same drive and only allow the share to use one drive, this means only one drive will be spun up, I have also added my "my documents" folder to this drive, so even if I start working no more disks will be spun up;

 

This can be a way of working for other situations also, an itunes share for music for example would spin up all disks part of the share, so it might be wise to limit that share to a single disk as long as possible.

 

- use folder caching (again avoicing unnecessary spinups)

 

- don't use plugins you do not really need (example: is that istat plugin really doing something for you or is it just bling bling for example (by the way: I use it, I like it)).

 

- Consider using an SSD for a cache drive and use it for your continuous processing also (the example would be bittorent, this way your server can have all disks spun down).

 

- Limit continuous use towards the array (I mentioned my backup tool, it can be configured to continuously backup, or do it ones per day, having it continuously makes for a disk full time spun up).

Maybe disable things on the motherboard like serial ports, unused usb ports etc? Also i was told that leaving the machine running 24/7 would use less energy then starting it up and shutting it down every day... I don't think thats the case if you have S3 support? My X9SCM with i3 (2120T) only has S1 and since it runs headless anyway, i just leave it running 24/7...

 

In 'semi-idle' mode, that is the machine is running but all 6 4TB disks are downspinned, except for the ssd (so it can be downloading stuff, or serves as a slimserver) it uses about 45W. Pure idle (no processing or apps running) is just a few watts less. In fully operational and running state, e.g. doing a parity check, it uses about 98W.

 

If i waited a few weeks more i could have gone for the low power (17W) x3 http://ark.intel.com/products/65735/Intel-Xeon-Processor-E3-1220LV2-(3M-Cache-2_30-GHz) ... maybe i'll do that anyway, but for the extra money spent that way i can probably run the server 24/7 for free the next 2 years

 

- use folder caching (again avoicing unnecessary spinups)

 

 

Is folder caching or directory caching already built-in or do I need a plugin or package for that? Or perhaps Simplefeatures?

You need a plugin, within simplefeautures or otherwise ..

You need a plugin, within simplefeautures or otherwise ..

 

..otherwise? What?

Cache_dirs plugin/add on.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2 while sitting on the couch watching the 2012 Olympics and doing laundry but thinking about what to have for lunch.

Cache_dirs plugin/add on.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2 while sitting on the couch watching the 2012 Olympics and doing laundry but thinking about what to have for lunch.

 

Thanks. Can it run with just the default settings, or are there important settings to change?

There are plugins for simplefeatures as well as addons for plain vanilla unraid..  I would advise simplefeatures though, looks so nice ...

Cache_dirs plugin/add on.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2 while sitting on the couch watching the 2012 Olympics and doing laundry but thinking about what to have for lunch.

 

Thanks. Can it run with just the default settings, or are there important settings to change?

 

With simplefeatures..... It's simple :-)  Just enable.. There are no real options you need to use..