Energy efficient setup for multiple guest systems

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Ralondo
Posts: 2
Joined: 18. Jan 2023, 14:33

Energy efficient setup for multiple guest systems

Post by Ralondo »

I am planing to run multiple virtualbox guests on a simple linux server host. The guests will include a Home Automation Setup (Home assistant), Pi-Hole, Octo-Pi, Webdevelopment Setup, etc.

What would be the most energy efficient hardware setup to do this? I am planing on running a recent Ubuntu LTS as host. My current linux server is an "old" Intel i7-4770, with Ubuntu 18 LTS. The current server uses about 50 to 60 Watts, with 5 WD Red hard drives attached and also works as Satellite-DVR with VDR and a build-in Satellite-Card.
Any hints and tipps for a new energy efficient setup? Or is 50-60 Watts something I have to live with that use case? Any more information needed for a accurate answer?

Thank you all for your help!
Roland
scottgus1
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Posts: 20965
Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows, Linux

Re: Energy efficient setup for multiple guest systems

Post by scottgus1 »

Energy efficiency can't be determined only by hardware. It is also determined by software draw, in other words, how hard the CPU is working. An idle processor takes less energy than a processor going full throttle down the trench to keep the fighters off its tail.

So until one knows how hard your apps and VMs will be pummeling the CPU, one can't really answer the question exactly.

This question is not really about Virtualbox, it's more about how efficiently your CPU and drives, etc, use the electricity to process the info crunching through them. Spinning platter drives take more energy than SSDs. A low-TDP CPU may be more efficient in power per instruction, but may also not run as many instructions per unit of time as a higher-TDP CPU. (TDP: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/td ... ,5764.html)

So were efficiency my driving force, I'd consider power draw by each device, and consider per-instruction power draw for the CPU, if there is a metric for that.

Rule of thumb: 1 watt energy draw per year, at ~10 US cents per kWh, = ~$1 US per year. So your 50-60-watt server = ~$50-60 US a year. How much TV do you watch? My TV uses about 60 watts. How much coffee, gum, candy, other pleasantries do you consume a year? The server may be a drop in the bucket.
Ralondo
Posts: 2
Joined: 18. Jan 2023, 14:33

Re: Energy efficient setup for multiple guest systems

Post by Ralondo »

Well, all those VMs will have a pretty low CPU usage, often ideling for hours.

I'm from Germany, energy costs are way higher here, the highest in Europe. Currently I am paying 40 Euro Cent (nearly the same as 40 US Cent) per kWh, so it makes a difference.
scottgus1
Site Moderator
Posts: 20965
Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows, Linux

Re: Energy efficient setup for multiple guest systems

Post by scottgus1 »

That's rather a pile for electricity! Based on the news in Europe I can see why it's so expensive.

I'd say the best thing to do is find a CPU with the best ratio of processing benchmark against watt of TDP. I'm basing the energy usage on TDP because a CPU is basically an electric heater, energy-usage-wise. If you can get the most data processing for each watt, that would seem to be the most efficient CPU.

At the same time consider what you'll be doing in the VMs and other host stuff. Only monitoring house lights & switches and serving files might be possible on an Intel Atom. Transcoding video for streaming or hashing files for off-site backup file-compare may require a beefier CPU with more TDP.
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