Conclusions.

What has been laid out within this paper is a huge amount of data which will allow the most basic end user to formulate how much power is consumed at any one given point of:

a.                  System Installation

b.                  Individual Synthetic Tests ran

c.                  Real-time application benchmarks

d.                  Specific 3D Studio Max Renders

e.                  Time, Wattage and KHW used throughout the paper from each individual test system from either company.

f.                   The impact Diskeeper has throughout the paper demonstrating its full potential allowing savings in both precious KWH’s and increased productivity output from the individual test systems, however slight they are to be seen.

System pricing has been matched up with several online resellers showing best prices and in the interests of fair play to keep costs to a minimum all parts purchased from one reseller were possible.   To reiterate their costings; Intel Test Platform (System Cost = $2165 US Dollars, £1165 UKP, €1391 Euros).

Throughout the paper we have seen productivity time saved by Diskeepers implementation time and time again, most importantly the actual savings of energy with Diskeeper running in the background on the fly.   Savings of this magnitude without any degeneration of performance has to be seriously considered.  Energy saved means it can be successfully rerouted to another important part of the building allowing the IT department to show its efficiency in this controversial light.  

To digress ever so slightly and here is one thought to take home, many buildings utilise very large air conditioning units to cool their server rooms which in turn drain huge amounts of the companies allocated energy.  A small open window lets through plenty of fresh cool air and with the correct filter in place prevents outside airborne dusts etc entering.   With this in mind just how much additional extra energy would be saved?     One item which we discovered upon our investigations was the lacking in proper power backup and surge protection to the PC.   The equipment used within this paper is readily available at $99 and has a $100k equipment replacement value.   The surge adaptors in place within the buildings we saw where very expensive surge adaptors with a $99 equipment replacement value to them as well.   However, and most shockingly; there is no provision for backup & shutdown in the instances of a power outage. 

This is an item that needs readily addressed by all parties involved with the I.T. decision making.   Good decisions here make more capital gains and show the end user that they are protecting their investments.   How much wattage is consumed by each item whilst the system is shut down?    A Surge adapter draws a constant 0.04 Watts of current per hour, whereas the UPS draws a meagre 0.01 Watts of current per hour.   Furthermore, it depends fully on what time of day tests are conducted from anyone building.  As noted in one building we found current fluctuations differed with the Surge Adaptor.  Early morning (6.30am) to approx 4.30pm saw as stated, a constant 0.04 Watts of power being drawn per hour.  From that time onwards to the last point of note at 10.30pm it was prominent, even with the building on reduced capacity of power consumption the Surge Adaptors are now drawing 0.09 Watts of power per hour.    It therefore goes to prove that whilst the UPS provides that precious backup supply required and it also saves & regulates that precious required Wattage consumption.

What is significant and shows the true functionality of Diskeeper is the actual render times taken under 3D Studio Max.   A slight improvement was to be seen under CBALLS 2 Video Post, though this render is primarily GPU driven, however a saving is made nevertheless.   The biggest time that will be actually seen is within the likes of Radiosity tests which completely stretches the whole system I/O putting huge amounts of pressure on the Hard Disc, Memory and CPU to perform to its maximum.  Here we see from both Test Systems savings across the board with Diskeeper fully enabled.   What has to be taken away are savings like these accumulatively over the day are to be very substantial indeed.

We have to also consider seriously the equipment provided by all of the companies.   These important items supplied have played a significant impact on the results seen within this document.   What has been prevalent throughout has been the actual with the evidence shown; while scientifically accurate, is meant to be uncomplicated so that the less–technically inclined user can quickly grasp the fundamental value. 

To ensure that no anomalies had been seen from the results within the paper, the tests / renders / benchmarks for Test Systems all had been completely reran over 4 complete days. It was concluded that the findings within the paper were accurate and the results obtained where conclusive without any doubt.

Intel Platform with Diskeeper not installed.   Total time up to check sum back to back all tests/renders/benchmarks covered within this paper was 9 Hours and 21 minutes to which 0.97 KWH’s of power consumption was recorded

Intel Platform with Diskeeper installed and fully enabled.   Total time up to check sum back to back all tests/renders/benchmarks covered within this paper was 7 Hours and 40 minutes to which 0.85 KWH’s of power consumption was recorded

A brief summary of the results from the tests show;

To reiterate from our opening statement of making things “Greener”, the lowering of Carbon Emissions & footprints, but most importantly too, the silent efficient running of the PC.   Many of you will now be sitting up seriously thinking how much can be saved in both efficiency and actual power over the year with what has been shown.  With using less than 1 Kilowatt of power being consumed each day throughout the heaving testing of both benchmarks and, extreme usage of applications shows ultimately without any degeneration in performance, Intel’s test system for these operations has to be seriously considered.

One of the biggest known issues today is that of system back-up.  Many know just how long and frustrating a task this can be, especially when backing up many systems simultaneously.   The simple test shown here demonstrates the effectiveness of Diskeeper and I-FAAST technology at its best.    Index file system had grown to an expected level; Back-Up times were all within tolerance from a normal workstation.   However the implementation of Diskeeper with its I-FAAST technology saw Back-Up time reduced and a further saving in energy being gained.

Penultimately, with all that has been demonstrated within the paper it unequivocally shows how much impact Diskeeper has within either of the Test Systems.   Within the Intel Test System a saving of 1 hours 41 minutes of time and 0.12 KWH’s of energy saved a day utilising the complete functionality of Diskeeper.   Although some may say, small savings, however no matter how small these savings are within each part of the paper they surmount to huge savings in time, energy and ultimately complete productivity output.

Over a year these are significant amounts to be clawed back into cash savings, which in turn appeases the company’s standing with government regulatory authorities.   The share holders & company board that savings have been implemented and in turn means no cuts in the forth coming years R & D budget for the IT department.   Last but not least, the operators mean they can be more productive meeting aggressive deadlines set by the client.   This in turn has proven the considerable agreement that is the product worth it?  Of course it is and without any shadow of a doubt.

At the beginning of the paper it was stated that time, energy and productivity could be saved by the simple implementation of Diskeeper; this has been proven unequivocally without doubt.

Page 1 - Introduction
Page 2 - Methodology & System Configuration
Page 3 - Format of Boot Hard Discs and Installation of Microsoft Windows
Page 4 - SPECviewperf 10 ®
Page 5 - HD Tach Version 3.0.4.0
Page 6 - SiSoftware Sandra XII SP1 Professional
Page 7 - MAXON CINEBENCH 10
Page 8 - Autodesk - 3ds Max 9 SP2  &  SPECapc for SolidWorks 2007™
Page 9 - Diskeeper® 2008 Pro Premier Edition & System Volume Back-Up
Page 10 - Conclusions.