It is high time the net technology across the world followed a green path that many other industries have taken in the past couple of decades. While change will not come overnight, the gradual process will have to start at some point and will have to make giant strides if it has to keep up with the growing world standards. Coming out of the Green Grid Technical Forum, we know that energy infrastructures of data centers and other enterprise-level IT operations are in dire need of a major overhaul. Now it appears that similar changes may be required in the area of Ethernet distribution equipment.
Delving into energy consumption and other green issues facing the IT industry, In-Stat, a high-tech market research firm, has settled on one of the thirstiest devices – the LAN switch. According to In-Stat, shipments of power over Ethernet ports, which can consume more than 10 times the energy of standard ports, have tripled since 2005. The report also points out those significant vendor-specific differences in energy efficiency remain even among similarly equipped switches. Therefore, switch vendors who develop energy-smart solutions the earliest are said to gain a competitive advantage and benefit from the continuing growth in the switch market.
The market is obviously looking forward to such innovations that would make the Ethernet market green and a lot more eco-friendly than its present state of existence. As many businesses develop green initiatives using best practices published by organizations like the Green Grid, IT managers will also be forced to absorb some degree of responsibility for their organization’s power usage. It is not just about energy consumption but also about both the usage efficiency and the ability to switch to alternate sources.
