Some would argue that there is no greater symbol of the computer age than the PC or Personal Computer. Splintered today into the desktop, laptop, palmtop, etc., we use it to store our intimate data, communicate with our colleagues and family, and perform the most mundane of everyday tasks; from ordering groceries to paying our bills. According to the Computer Industry Almanac: "PCs in-use reached nearly 1B units worldwide at year-end 2006." In September 2007, PC Pro magazine re-launched their Switch IT Off campaign, pointing out that: "Even when idle, a mid-range PC consumes around 175W... enough to charge more than 85 mobile phones." That's a staggering amount of energy.
With business now putting serious weight behind the fight against Global Warming, and the ever increasing cost of energy world wide, companies are now starting to look seriously at reducing their power consumption. Not surprisingly, the ubiquitous PC is a prime target. However, it's not that easy for a lot of businesses to identify when PC's should be shut off. The ever necessary software updates are usually scheduled for out of office hours and exactly what office hours are is often confusing. So just what should companies do to reduce their PC Power Consumption?
Well here's one idea. A Canadian company, Userful, has developed software that allows up to 10 workstations to be run from just one PC. The company claims that using their product to replace ten PC's with one can: "reduce CO2 emissions by up to 15 tons per year per system and electronic waste by up to 80%."
The "Userful Multiplier" software is based on the Linux Operating System (OS) and presents the user with a desktop that has more in common with Apple's MacOS than with Microsoft's Windows. Since its creation in the early 1990's, Linux has grown to occupy a respectable share of the OS market, reaching twenty nine million users today, or so they think. Just why Linux has become so popular is not hard to figure out. It's an incredibly fast, reliable and stable, multi-user, multitasking OS. It has an advanced graphical user interface, or GUI, and thousands of free applications, including OpenOffice. You can read more about the benefits of Linux here.
Userful have built on the Linux platform to provide a centrally managed workstation cluster. Each of the ten workstations is completely isolated from the others and comes with its own earphone and microphone connection. The workstations are also equipped with a USB (Universal Serial Bus) port. Users can use this to connect USB devices, including memory sticks, hard drives, web cams and cameras.
This approach has several advantages over traditional office set-ups. Based on Linux, it has inherited the resilience to viruses and other attacks that Linux is famous for having. Instead of scheduling updates or installing software for several computers, or indeed several hundred, the time can be slashed by a factor of ten and downtime for computers decreased. Purchase and maintenance costs are also slashed.
The result can only be a saving for businesses. However, for those who suggest productivity may suffer, think of it this way. Does an average office worker really need all the power that a modern computer has to offer? I believe the answer is no. Nobody uses their computer 100% of the time and when several users do require the systems resources simultaneously, the multitasking abilities of the Linux OS are undoubtedly up to the job.
Further Reading:
That'd be great, however I'd be concerned about the fact that the average office joe isn't exactly proficient when it comes to diagnosing technical difficulties. So much so, that the simple things like plugging a keyboard in, etc can befuddle most yuppies. This, coupled with the fact that up to ten workstations operate on the one computer could cause mayhem. One little problem could shut down an entire office!
Written in August