Tech Office Going Green - Part 1 - Dell “Lapserver”

We recently turned an old Dell Latitude CPx J into a development web server. We did this impart because we have been trying to be more eco-friendly. Also, because I am a total technology geek and I love a good challenge. Now keep in mind, this is not mission critical stuff. This is just a box to beat on.

So, how is this a green alternative to using a regular box or rack mount? The CPx is strong enough (P3 750 w/ 512 MB of RAM) to be an IIS 6 web server, yet uses a fraction of the power that a box or rack mount would use.

The setup went without a problem. Although, there was one issue. When the laptop is closed, the LCD screen turns on. This is annoying because, while this little giant serves up many websites to our developers without a problem, the monitor stays on all the time and uses more electricity. Thus, defeating the purpose of a green, lap-server in the first place.

“Turn Off Monitor” to the rescue.

After scouring the Internet for possible solutions, I stumbled upon a little program called, “Turn Off Monitor”. This little beauty is great. It’s small, less than 400k. And even better, it only costs $3 and it runs on win2k3 server.

Give it a try if you find you need to turn off a monitor without using a physical switch.

http://www.rtsoftwares.com/Turn-Off-Monitor.htm

So, in conclusion, I bought a program for $3, that was less than 400k, and it did exactly what I wanted it to do. Ahh – it makes me think back to the good old days of shareware in the early 90’s (Think the old download.com or TUCOWS)

Filed under: Green Tech, Misc. Tech by admin