System architecture support for green enterprise computing

Abstract

This paper proposes a novel system for enterprise computing that reduces energy consumption without sacrificing performance or putting devices to sleep. It uses a hybrid architecture composed of multiple device classes and it runs an application in the most energy-efficient location. Our prototype, called Any-ware, provides desktop-class performance while reducing energy consumption by 75% through a combination of lightweight clients and a small number of servers. Providing such an elastic system invisibly to end users requires solving many challenges, including deciding where to run applications while simultaneously making it appear they all run locally. Anyware's hybrid design suggests a new way to think about using the modern spectrum of personal computing devices.