Web Browser Power Usage under Load

Abstract

The purpose of my research was to find a relation between HTTP request loads and power usage of a BeageBoard. This information will then be used to optimize the load balancing of web requests to a variable amount of BeagleBoards with regard to power usage. The motivation for this information is to implement a series stack group of web servers. These web servers would share a power supply unit and significantly improve the power efficiency of the traditional data center. To measure the power, a web server was set up on the BeagleBoard with different types of files. Then the power was measured as requests came in for the different files at several rates and amounts. The results were informative to what types of requests caused more or less power usage. For example, requests that required arithmetic were higher in power usage.