Guidelines released for comparing energy efficiency of networking platforms

Climate Savers has released a series of guidelines for evaluating and comparing the energy efficiency of network devices, for both buying and designing network equipment and systems. You can download the 21-page PDF for free. The paper begins by discussing the layered model for network energy savings, suggesting that network-related energy savings can be functionally separated into applications (services), network, device (element) and component layers. (See Figure below.) How the equipment is designed and used for and between these layers has an impact on overall network energy efficiency.

This white paper is the third in a series of three papers; The previous two are:“Considerations for Selecting Power Supplies for Networking Equipment and Evaluating Power Conversion Efficiency”, and “Power Management for Networking Devices Energy Efficiency Guide for Networking Devices,” and are also available for free download.

Climate Savers Computing Initiative (CSCI) is a 700-member global consortium focused on reducing the energy consumption and carbon footprint of information and communications technologies.