Transcript University of Plymouth & PC Power Management

Greg Regan
Principal Computing Officer
Desktop Applications Team
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5th largest university in the UK
Recently ranked 1st in the UK of 119 international universities when
dealing with green issues
Multiple campus’ across Somerset, Devon & Cornwall
~ 30,000 FTE students
~ 3,500 staff
1,800 student PCs (approx 60 dual boot to Linux)
3,000 staff PCs
500 laptops
300 Macs
Condor Grid Computing pool of 1,000 student Windows PCs
More than 200 Windows Servers + few Linux, Solaris & Unix
Predominantly a Microsoft site
Project
Objective
PlymNet 5
Upgrade network to 10 gigabit backbone
80%
PlymStore
Consolidate & increase storage whilst reducing
overheads
80%
PlymServe
Virtualize & rationalize the server infrastructure to reduce
the total no. of CPU cycles used, increase flexibility and
reduce total overhead
80%
PlymTel
Deploy IP telephony university wide to create a more
flexible working environment, particularly for remote &
peripatetic workers
90%
PlymPrint
Deploy free standing multi-function devices to replace
inefficient and costly personal devices
100%
PlymMac5
Replace legacy Apple Macs – leased on 3 year cycle
100%
PlymLap5
Replace legacy laptops – leased on 4 year cycle
100%
PlymDesk5
Replace legacy desktops – leased on 4 year cycle
100%
NB – Responsible disposal of legacy hardware is built into all contracts
% complete
show how the University of Plymouth will:
1.
Reduce its PlymDesk 5 carbon footprint; and
2.
Reduce its PlymDesk 5 power bills by more
than £276k over the next 3 years
Date
Results
Pre 2002
PCs were purchased & maintained by
individual Schools/Faculties
Dozens of different specification
PCs, a second rate,
inconsistent & costly service
2003
Introduced leased fleet of 5,000 PCs
(Windows XP Pro), managed and
maintained by central ICT using SMS 2.0
(upgraded to SMS 2003 in 2004) and
Faronics DeepFreeze (student PCs only)
First class consistent user
experience using only 3
different PC specifications
Deployed 2nd generation leased fleet of
4,800 PCs introducing Dual Core
processors & Intel vPro technology –
specifically Active Management
Technology, to assist with PC
maintenance
Immediately reduced power
consumption by 40%
(estimated)
(PlymDesk 4)
2007
(PlymDesk 5)
The downside is the PCs need
to be powered up 24/7 to allow
DeepFreeze and SMS to
interact effectively
Effective PC power
management using Group
Policy Preferences and AMT
further reduces power
consumption
Technology
Purpose
Intel Active Management
Technology
Allows low level remote-control of a PC – built into the
motherboard. PCs should be pre-provisioned by OEM
prior to delivery – cost = free (some OEMs may
charge)
Intel SCS server
Allows secure provisioning of AMT PCs once deployed
– cost = free
SMS 2003
Manages OS patching, application deployment and
PC re-imaging via SMS OSD add-on – cost = free
SMS 2003 Intel SMS add-on
Allows management of AMT devices via SMS for
instance power cycling etc. – cost = free
Microsoft Group Policy
Preferences
Allows enterprise control of XP power policies applied
by Group Policy Object – cost = free
Faronics DeepFreeze
Maintains the state of a PC - installed on all student
PCs – cost ~ £3 / PC /p.a.
Condor windows client
Allows PC to be used on PlymGrid – installed on the
PC & activated by Group Policy – cost = free
NB – whilst all the power saving solutions are effectively free there is a server and system admin
overhead
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All PCs are AMT provisioned
All PCs are a member of an Active Directory security
group
Each of the above security groups has a different
Windows power policy defined by a Group Policy
preference moving the PC into standby after a
period of inactivity
Intel SMS add-on wakes up or turns on PCs to
perform OS updates or application deployments
The defined power policy returns the PC to a
standby state
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WoL technology didn’t work on our network
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Extant enterprise products were either not
robust or too expensive
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The timing of the renewal of our leased fleet
coincided with the maturity of Enterprise
AMT
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Dealing with new technologies – OEM was
learning on the fly causing issues
Blending the technologies into UoP infrastructure
Issues with Intel SMS add-on
Lack of real accessible information
BIOS and BIOS upgrade issues
Changing user & support staff misconceptions,
i.e. vPro power managed PCs
UoP under-resourcing the project
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UoP senior management buy-in – all PCs ‘have’ to be
power-managed, opt-out may only be achieved by
completing a registration form
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Working with new technologies
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Working in partnership with Intel
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Achieving solutions and successes
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Our Apple Mac fleet wherever possible emulates the
behaviour of the PCs
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Prove that we are making real savings – aiming
to look at this later this year, the findings will be
published
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Microsoft have embraced the AMT technology 
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Upgrading from SMS 2003 & SCS to SCCM
2007 SP1 – effectively unifying SMS & AMT
[email protected]