One of the considerations when building a Windows Home Server is its energy-efficiency. The box will be switched on 24/7, and so silent running, low heat output and low power consumption lead to cheaper running costs as well as lower environmental impact. Over the coming year, expect to see many OEMs communicating low power consumption as a key feature of their systems.
Western Digital have just launched a new GreenPower range of SATA hard drives, ranging from 320Gb to 1 Tb which will be ideal for a low power consuming home server. The power consumption if these drives is up to 38% more efficient than standard drives due to technical innovations including adjusting the rotational speed, using bigger data buffers, parking the drive’s head, and optimizing how the drive seeks and caches data.
If you’re looking for a greener home server, check out Western Digital’s website.
August 6th, 2007 at 1:13 am
Any indication of pricing yet? Will they be priced in line with existing drives or will we be charged a premium for the green features?
August 7th, 2007 at 7:56 am
I checked with WD - they’re not releasing any pricing at the moment. My guess is there’ll be a premium, even if it’s just to claw back the R&D cost….