Subject: [eman] Some thoughts on: draft-norwin-energy-consider-02.txt

From: Russ White <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 24 Mar 2011 19:43:24 -0400

Just a few things that popped into my head while I was reading this:

==
   The power level of a device is its current electricity demand.  It is
   an important complement to power mode, providing articulation of
   power level within the basic mode.  It also avoids the need for a
   large number of named modes.  Basic modes are distinguished by
   important functional differences or power levels.  Core power modes
   are an abstraction from individual implementations.

How would you envision the power usage being articulated in a way that
makes sense to everyone? IE, some devices use a realyl large amount of
power, and others a really small amount. Also, would you want to average
the power usage over time, or simply take the current (immediate) usage?
Any thoughts on how this piece could be organized to make sense in a
wide array of circumstances?

==
   A critical feature of the set of basic power states is that they
   should be universally applicable to any device eman is applied to.
   This does not mean that each device has every state, but that the
   model is sufficiently general that it can be applied to all.

I think the solution presented on list earlier --having device specific
"extensions" or "forks" in the MIB, is probably the way to go here... It
might be worth updating the doc to take this type of capability into
consideration (?).

==
"Species".  This is the fundamental classification that a device
      is a member of due to its design and capabilities.  This property
      is determined by the manufacturer before it is sold.  Examples are
      server, router, notebook PC, display, TV, refrigerator, light,
      etc.

I'm a little concerned that this type of information will be more,
rather than less, difficult to come by. Is a settop box that includes a
spinning hard drive (for DVR), a voice gateway, an 802.11 hub or some
sort, stateful packet filtering for security, and a vido camera a video
device, a router, a switch, a hub, a wireless router, or... ??

==
8.  Security Considerations

   None.

It seems like there might be security considerations... They might be
out of scope for this document, but I would think energy usage is really
a "big deal" for some users, at least (?), and might want to be
protected information. Don't know if that should be considered here, though.

==
HTH

:-)

Russ