Idle or schedule-based power management?
PowerMAN allows both idle (timeout driven) and scheduled power management actions to be
configured. Each has advantages and in some cases they may be used most productively together:
- Idle Strategy – The Default, No User and specific user policies allow an idle timeout to be
defined. This is very similar to the basic configuration available in the Windows Control Panel
Power applet. A timeout strategy allows each computer to respond dynamically to its
environment. This will normally maximize any power savings but does mean that each
computer will behave independently. This may be unsuitable for some environments such as
timetabled rooms in schools.
- Scheduled Strategy – The scheduled shutdown / sleep / hibernate policy allows a specific
action to occur at a specific time. This is ideal for environments with a predictable usage
pattern or where independent computer behaviour may be disruptive. Unless computer
utilisation is very high it is unlikely that a scheduled strategy alone will achieve the savings
possible from an idle-based approach.
- Combined Strategy – In some environments a combination of the two strategies may be
ideal. A common approach is to use a light sleep timeout driven strategy for „daytime‟ periods.
This has the advantage of a fast resume time and minimal disruption. This can be
complemented by a nightly full shutdown or hibernation strategy.