Realizing Energy Savings with Policy Commander

If you're an existing Prism Suite customer and are running the latest version, v.9.1.0.110, getting Policy Commander up and running in your organization is a simple excercise. Prism Suite and Policy Commander share a common infrastructure (same server, DB and client) so the time to implement and begin using Policy Commander is generally on the order of minutes. 

If you're running a version older than 9.1.0.110, we encourage you to upgrade to the latest. Please see Prism Suite's version history here: 

http://www.newboundary.com/products/prismsuite/ps_versionhistory.htm

For instructions on upgrading to the latest, see the following KB article:

http://www.nbtnet.newboundary.com/supportkb/article.aspx?id=10836&cNode=8F6U8O

New Boundary Technologies has developed a Power Smart Value Pack specifically designed to assist you in demonstrating both cost savings and the positive environmental impact achieved when using Policy Commander to reduce the energy consumption of your Windows systems. Instructions for downloading and installing the Value Pack can be found below.

Configuration Options for Prism and Policy Commander

Prism Suite and Policy Commander have several commonalities, including the ability to share the same application server, channel and client. If you are installing Policy Commander into an existing Prism Suite installation and want to leverage your existing Prism server and channel, please see the next section. If you want to keep your Policy Commander installation separate from your Prism Suite environment, you will need to install Policy Commander on a different server than Prism Suite.

Installing Policy Commander 2.0.2 on an existing Prism Server

If you are already running Prism Deploy version 9 and higher, Policy Commander can leverage your existing Prism Server and database (Prism and Policy Commander share a common client).  If you choose this configuration, the first time you launch the Policy Commander Console you will see all your managed Prism clients and existing configuration and organizational groups.

IMPORTANT: It is very important to back up your existing Prism Channel databases before installing Policy Commander.

1.      Download and install the Policy Commander 2.0.2 on the same computer where you administer Prism Suite.

a.      Make sure you have your serial number (PCM…)

b.      Make sure you have your license key(s).

2.      During the installation select all the defaults:

NOTE: The installation will only upgrade the components it needs to.  

3.      After installation, launch the Policy Commander Console (Start |Programs | Policy Commander). This should open your pre-existing Prism channel.

4.      Select the File| Channel Properties | License Tab and click on the “Add” button. In the white box, paste in your Policy Commander license key(s) that was emailed to you and click “OK”.  You should see your new license count and 180 day duration, and then click “OK”.

5.      Select File | Channel Properties | Settings tab.  Under “Auto License” ensure the Policy Commander check-box is checked.

6.      Close the Policy Commander Console. Proceed to the next section for downloading and installing the value pack.

Downloading and Installing the Power Smart Value Pack

1. Download the Power Smart Value Pack from here:  http://downloads.newboundary.com/pcomm/PwrSmart.zip
2. Extract the contents of the ZIP file to a location on your hard drive.  Once extracted, you will see a “GGUpgrade” folder and “PwrSmart Calc (Console).exe”.
3. Copy the extracted GGUpgrade folder to your server which houses the Prism Server, ensure you have sufficient SQL database permissions and run the GGUpgrade.exe that can be found within the folder. This will add 2 new reports and add new power management policies to your Policy Commander installation.
4. Run the PwrSmart Calc (Console).exe on the computers where the Policy Commander Console is installed. This will add a new calculator for determining energy savings, as well as a shortcut within your Start Menu.
5. Launch the Policy Commander Console and select the "Policies" tab. You should see 3 new EPA-recommended policies inside of your channel. If you would like to download additional power management policies, select Policies | Import Policies from Policy Server…

6. Select the default "New Boundary Technologies Security Policy Knowledgebase" and click "Next".

7. Check the box adjacent to "Power Management Policies" and click "Add"

Now you’re ready to start saving energy with Policy Commander!  For a quick start on using Policy Commander to manage your Windows power settings, see the online help: http://www.newboundary.com/support/docs/pcompower/power.htm

Calculating Energy Savings

After you use Policy Commander for a period of time, you’ll be anxious to see how much energy you have saved and how many dollars this equates to.  Policy Commander makes it easy to export your Policy Commander results into a text file that can be interpreted by the PwrSmart calculator. From here you’ll be able to see estimates for dollars and energy saved as well as projected savings

Policy Commander provides two reports that illustrate the duration your managed computers spend in a low energy state (Reports | Computer Reports):

• Energy Savings – displays each managed computer, the type of low energy mode, the time the computer went into the low energy mode, the time it exited the low energy mode and duration in low energy mode. Note the default filter is to display the last 30 days.
• Summary of Energy Savings – displays each Policy Commander group, the number of computers in the group and a total duration for the entire group spent in low energy mode. This is a running total from the first day using Policy Commander until the present, up to 6 months worth of data is retained.

The Energy Savings report is used when you need to drill down to more detail, like viewing specific computers or specific date ranges.  The Summary of Energy Savings report is used when you want a total duration spent in low energy mode over a specific group or your entire organization, up to the last 6 months.  Policy Commander provides built-in filtering and sorting, but in order to equate energy saved into dollars (and other metrics) we’ll need to export the data within the Energy Savings report into text file.

1. Within the Energy Savings report, select File | Export To | Text File (CSV) and save the results to your desired location.

2. Open the PwrSmart Savings calculator from your Start Menu Programs | Policy Commander folder.
3. Within the calculator, browse to the text file created in step 1.

4. You can now view, print and save your results. You can also modify the assumptions used for price per kWh and average wattage for your devices.

Additional Ideas

Energy consumption varies between devices, with the largest variance occurring in desktops versus laptops. Policy Commander’s configuration groups enable you to organize your computers in these 2 general categories, allowing you to then run reports specific to both desktops and laptops. In general, laptops will consume approximately 50 – 75% less energy than desktops with a display attached. Please see the following KB article with instructions for differentiating between desktops and laptops:

http://www.nbtnet.newboundary.com/supportkb/article.aspx?id=10929