Low energy computing

Low energy workstation

The first step to getting your energy usage under control is understanding your currently usage. Aardvark systems can help you to examine how your workspace uses energy and then devise a strategy to help you reduce the running costs of you office space.
Did you know that a traditional workstation PC consumes approximately 100 - 150W of power. When viewed individually this may not appear very much, but, when you look at the cost of just a hundred such systems, this can become much more significant. As more business tasks move onto the network, the need for this kind of work station is greatly reduced.

A business workstation typically contains excessive processing power and storage for the work its being asked to do, this comes at a price.

TypeRatingKWhCost per monthAnnual cost * 100CO2
Standard PC1400.14£12.55£15,060.000.52 tonnes
Low energy PC330.33£2.96£3552.000.01 tonnes
Low energy extreme150.015£1.35£1620.00negligible
Products

Low energy PC

We firmly believe that a low energy computing will become more important as energy costs rise and business tries to find ways to save.
In many cases, there are few tasks that cannot be done using a central server with many efficient terminals. By switching to an efficient central server with many low energy workstations, significant savings in energy and maintainence can be achieved. This in turn lowers the costs and saves your company money.
Sadly, this is not always possible. In those instances it is possible to reduce the energy requirements of the individual workstations by deploying the right hardware for the job.

  • Based on a Dual core Intel Atom processor, our low energy PC consumes just 33W of power during normal use. Compared to a traditional PC this represents and energy saving of 70%.
  • We supply each unit with 2 GB RAM, to ensure smooth operation even when tackling large spreadsheets or database applications.
  • Each workstation has been fully tested using Microsoft Windows and Ubuntu Linux.
  • Due to their energy efficient nature, government assistance is available to companies making the switch.

Low energy PC

Specification

CPUIntel Atom® 1.6GHz
RAM2GB
Storage120GB SATA 2 HDD (Optional)
Power12V- 20V DC
Power over ethernetNo
Connectivity10/100 LAN
USB4x USB 2.0
AudioOnboard High Definition Audio Codec
VideoIntegrated
OpticalDVD RW (Optional)

Summary

The low energy PC, while not up to running the latest video games is perfectly capable in the office environment. The low energy PC is positioned between a traditional PC but provides more features than a dumb terminal can. Compact computers have been available for a long time. They are now capable enough to handle all but the most demanding tasks seen in the work place, in our opinion they are ideally equipped to meet the demands of the businesses today.

Products

Low energy extreme

For those serious about saving power, we offer the low energy extreme. Capable of running a Linux Based OS and web browser while consuming a mere 6W of power. These would at first appear too under powered for desktop use, more suited to kiosk based applications. We agree this is the ideal platform to build a kiosk on, but that is not the limit. We are deploying these systems to a schools in Cameroon together with a low energy PC to act as the central server, to provide education to those with unpredictable power.


Ultra low energy computer

Specification

CPU500 MHz AMD Geode LX800
RAM256MB
StorageCompact Flash
Power7V- 20V DC
Power over Ethernet Yes
Connectivity10/100 LAN connector
USB2x USB 2.0
AudioOn-Board
VideoVESA
OptionsWireless LAN a/b/g, SATA
OSLinux

Summary

The low energy extreme is positioned towards the embedded systems market and the hardcore energy savers. The core system is a ALIX3c3 system board that can be setup to suit your needs. While this device can be used as a Linux workstation, it is more suited to hosting service in an intranet environment. If used in such a capacity, this unit can provide significant energy savings over a dedicated carrier grade server.