One of the stated best practices is to properly configure Windows Server 2008’s power management features. According to the Green Grid, just turning on PPM features in the operating system can reduce power consumption by 20%. In Windows Server, this can be done simply by choosing the Balanced or Power Saver power policies (found in the Power Options applet in the Control Panel). Of course, PPM is a complicated technology, with many more toggles than a simple on/off switch. We’ve done quite a bit of work on the Windows Server processor power management (PPM) algorithms and parameters during R2 development. One of the results of this work was the development of a set of parameters that can boost power efficiency by up to 10% on standard benchmark workloads.

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