Optimize power consumption

Kwa@derpzilla.net to Selfhosted@lemmy.world – 38 points –

So I have finally built my NAS. I used an N100 CPU because I saw it has low power consumption.

Right now I have 2 NVMe SSDs and 2 HDDs. I have installed proxmox on the 2 SSDs as RAID1. I have not partitioned the HDDs yet, they are just plugged in and powered on.

Just booting into proxmox, without any VMs or containers running, I am pulling 45W from the wall. This looks super high to me, and I’m afraid that starting to use the HDDs and running some VMs may double this…

I don’t have much references, but I have an Odroid with an external self-powered HDD, it is using 5W. I have a raspberry pi 4 with an external HDD, the raspberry is pulling 3W and the HDD 3W.

With these data, I was thinking I wouldn’t go over 20W. 45W is enormous and not something I can run 24/7, kind of a fail for a NAS…

Have I done something wrong or is it just how much it’s supposed to pull?

Edit: I have come across powertop. Using the auto tune, I was able to drop to 33-35W. I have unplugged the HDDs and dropped to 22W. I guess I cannot go lower, this may be because of the PSU or the 2 NVMe

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Do also have a n100 processor running proxmox with 3 VM. Can't try right now but can come back in a few days to let you know how much power it draws

Thanks that would be cool. Also if you can tell me if this is a NUC or something larger.

I'm not the other user, but this is my NUC running proxmox with 2 VMs and 2 LXCs. Running with an old i3, 16gb ram and a single 1tb NVME, no mechanical HDDs, and a few USB peripherals like a ZigBee dongle.

I'm running a n100 16gb with a 256ssd, 4vms and 4 docker images, it's pulling 7-9w.

Thanks, this is really efficient. I now have good hopes that changing my PSU should bring me closer to this

It's literally one of those little known brand nuc, tiny box - beelink I think. Total cost $200 or so - it's been running non stop for the last 3 months without an issue. I don't think it even has a fan in there.

Curious, might have same machine but do consume a bit more, do you have one SSD + one nvme?

Sorry, I must have been too tired, got nearly all details wrong: 32GB RAM 1TB M.2, USB3.2, BT4.2,WiFi 5,4k HDMI, Gigabit Port, and not a Beelink but a DreamQuest. There's just the M2 interface disk connected, no SSD.

You still won't see that low of power consumption when you have something custom built.

With that being said you have a lot of room for improvement

So pc is consuming 13W, this is with one nvme + one SSD, pic at 30w for a few seconds at boot.