Looking at Energy Efficiency in Ethernet Switch Equipment

Networking equipment vendors will be faced with some steep challenges over the next few years, according to In-Stat. Power consumption and other “green” issues are fast becoming the information technology (IT) industry's biggest challenge. As IT managers absorb more responsibility for their organization's power usage, the role of energy efficiency will grow considerably in importance for future equipment purchases.

Consequently, equipment vendors are taking steps to improve efficiency. These steps include redesigning equipment from the bottom-up with more efficient hardware components. Others are working from the top-down, optimizing network traffic to reduce stress on equipment.