- Joined
- Dec 26, 2011
- Messages
- 850
- Reaction score
- 71
:: Background ::
With Eskom's supply issues, and the cost of fuel for my generator, I decided to move some of my core networking devices onto their own dedicated UPS for longer running when the power's out.
Most of my machines are virtualized, so instead of having multiple small machines, I have a large dedicated VM Host server that handles what I need.
And there in lies the problem, as I use IpCop & pfSense VM's for my network routing. I didn't want to run a very large UPS on the VM Host server, as the UPS costs would be very high to get 2.5hours battery run-time.
So I built a smaller VM server, purely for my routing VM's.
:: The 22W ITX Virtualbox machine for routing ::
The build comprises of the following:
- PSU: Pico PSU
- Case: Some small generic, fanless ITX chassis
- RAM: 2x 8GB DDR3-1333 SoDIMM's
- MoBo: Gigabyte GA-J1900N-D3V
- HDD: 240GB OCZ Vertex 3
Installed CentOS 7 64bit on the box, and Virtualbox + phpVirtualbox
To test a worse case scenario power draw, I had the two VM's running, and then started sysbench 4 thread benchmark [system has 4 cores]
Then looked at the power draw at the socket:
21.8W!!!
I haven't yet streamlined the CentOS 7 host OS, tweaked the system... But I am very pleased with the results so far.
:: Next steps ::
After the tweaks, going to plug in my switch, AP, both ADSL modems, and this VM onto a single power strip and check the total power consumed.
I hope to get under 95W total load, with my 48 port HP Gigabit managed switch, and my Dual-band Wireless-AC1900 AP [with TX power boosted] consuming the bulk.
With Eskom's supply issues, and the cost of fuel for my generator, I decided to move some of my core networking devices onto their own dedicated UPS for longer running when the power's out.
Most of my machines are virtualized, so instead of having multiple small machines, I have a large dedicated VM Host server that handles what I need.
And there in lies the problem, as I use IpCop & pfSense VM's for my network routing. I didn't want to run a very large UPS on the VM Host server, as the UPS costs would be very high to get 2.5hours battery run-time.
So I built a smaller VM server, purely for my routing VM's.
:: The 22W ITX Virtualbox machine for routing ::
The build comprises of the following:
- PSU: Pico PSU
- Case: Some small generic, fanless ITX chassis
- RAM: 2x 8GB DDR3-1333 SoDIMM's
- MoBo: Gigabyte GA-J1900N-D3V
- HDD: 240GB OCZ Vertex 3
Installed CentOS 7 64bit on the box, and Virtualbox + phpVirtualbox
To test a worse case scenario power draw, I had the two VM's running, and then started sysbench 4 thread benchmark [system has 4 cores]
Then looked at the power draw at the socket:
21.8W!!!
I haven't yet streamlined the CentOS 7 host OS, tweaked the system... But I am very pleased with the results so far.
:: Next steps ::
After the tweaks, going to plug in my switch, AP, both ADSL modems, and this VM onto a single power strip and check the total power consumed.
I hope to get under 95W total load, with my 48 port HP Gigabit managed switch, and my Dual-band Wireless-AC1900 AP [with TX power boosted] consuming the bulk.
