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Using Power Management

Chapter 1 Introduction to Power Management

Value of Power Management

Power Management software contributes to improving your system's energy efficiency.

Power Management reduces the amount of power that your system consumes. Reduction of power use is accomplished in two levels:

Use of this software may be needed for a workstation to meet the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Energy Star guidelines.

Note -

As an Energy Star Partner, Sun Microsystems, Inc. has determined that its hardware products that have the Energy Star symbol on the shipping box or on the product itself meet the Energy Star guidelines for energy efficiency.

Display Monitor Power Management

The display can be set to power down after the keyboard and mouse have been idle for a length of time that you specify, and then come back on readily when you're ready to see the display again. Details on this are provided in Chapter 2, Power Managing Displays.

Note -

A monitor is handled more effectively by Power Management software if it has qualified for the Energy Star logo.

System Power Management

The entire system can power down when it isn't needed and then return to the same working state when you power up the system again. Shut down and start up can happen automatically or at any time you choose. The steps for doing this are explained in Chapter 3, Managing System Power.

Caution - Caution -

System Power Management should not be used on some systems, because the type of work those systems are used for should not be interrupted to save power. Conditions where you should choose not to use Power Management are described in Chapter 3, Managing System Power.

dtpower

The Power Management graphical user interface, a program called dtpower, allows you to designate periods of inactivity after which the system will shut down. You can also use this tool to set the time of day to activate the automatic shutdown; for example, if you wish to use this AutoShutdown feature only after your regular work hours.

On sun4u-architecture workstations, you can also use an AutoWakeup feature of dtpower to power on the system at a specific time of day following an AutoShutdown.

Suspend-Resume

Suspend-Resume is a time-saving feature in the Power Management software that allows you to power cycle your system without losing the state of your current activities. Your workspace and files are preserved when the system is powered off so that they can be restored to the same state when the system is powered on.

For example, you can be in the process of editing a document when you decide to leave and power off your system. By using the Suspend-Resume feature, your edit session is automatically restored and appears in the same state the next time you power on the system.

Suspend-Resume is used automatically when the Power Management software performs an autoshutdown of your workstation. You also can Suspend or Resume your system whenever you choose through the keyboard.

Hardware Support for Power Management Features

Nearly all SPARC hardware is capable of using Power Management software features to some extent. However, some features only work on certain types of hardware. Some default power states vary from one type of system to another.

Here's a quick guide to what Power Management features to expect the hardware you have to support, and to the defaults that will be in effect when you first use this Solaris release with your hardware.

Note -

The Power Management features described in this manual are only provided in the SPARC Platform Edition of this Solaris release.

System Architecture Distinctions

The Power Management features available on a workstation depends on the SPARC architecture of that system, as described in Table 1-1.

Table 1-1 Availability of Power Management Features in Different SPARC Architectures

SPARC Architecture 

Display Power Management 

Suspend-Resume 

Power Off Under Software Control 

AutoWakeup 

sun4c 

Yes 

No 

No 

No 

sun4d 

Yes 

No 

No 

No 

sun4m 

Yes 

Yes  

Yes 

No 

sun4u 

Yes 

Yes  

Yes 

Yes 

Note -

The SPARCstation Voyager is a sun4m-architecture system, but has special Power Management features, as described in Platform Notes: SPARCstation Voyager Software Guide.

Monitor Hardware Distinctions

Some models of monitors are capable of screen blanking, while other monitors can also be placed in a power-saving mode through the Power Management software.

Default Distinctions

The default behavior in Power Management functions varies on systems as described in this section.

AutoShutdown: Off by default for sun4m-architecture systems; on by default for sun4u architecture systems,

Display Power Management: Off by default for the OpenWindowsTM desktop; on by default for the CDE desktop.

Note -

Customers with Sun Microsystems Computer Company (SMCC) hardware may find information about Power Management features supported on additional hardware published in the SMCC Hardware Platform Guide for this Solaris release.