Green Network Equipment...GreenTech Offers Opportunity

From Reuters Telcos Demand Greener Network Equipment

Power consumption and other “green” issues are fast becoming the information technology industry’s biggest challenge, reports In-Stat

one of the thirstiest devices: the LAN switch

LAN switches analyze incoming network traffic, determine the traffic's destination based on the packet's incoming frame, and forward the frame toward its destination

Switch vendors who address energy efficiency earliest have significant opportunities to develop competitive advantage in their respective markets

Top U.S. phone companies are demanding more energy-efficient equipment from their suppliers, as the costs of maintaining networks and data centers rise due to surging Internet traffic and energy prices

AT&T, the largest U.S. phone company, recently boosted the capacity of its backbone, or main Internet pipeline, to 40 Gigabits per second amid growing popularity for movie downloading, video streaming, Web-based voice and video calls, and mobile Web surfing.

Donovan said the company was already eyeing an upgrade to 100G and beyond, and studying the potential impact on power consumption.

"When we sit down with the lab folks and say what happens at 400G, they come back and say, there's so much power consumption that everything melts," AT&T's CTO Donovan said. "We need to fundamentally rethink how routing is done on the Internet. We have to fundamentally reshape it."

The Next Internet?

The Internet is major disruptive technology. This "grid" changed how content is created and distributed. The ability to create and distribute energy is ready to be disrupted.

Another "grid" is set to change energy production and distribution.

Imagine the opportunities when devices, connected to the Net, can be monitored and controlled from remote locations. Combine this with the ability to distribute energy from existing or renewable sources.


From Tech Review Gadgets To Spur Energy Conservation

About a thousand participants in ConsumerPowerline's energy-conservation program will receive small plug-in boxes that glow red when power demand peaks, urging them to turn off space heaters, defer dishwasher runs, or otherwise save electricity.

Energy suppliers respond to spikes in demand by gearing up extra production capacity. That can be so expensive that many utilities are willing to pay to promote conservation during periods of peak use.

ConsumerPowerline pays apartment complexes, companies, and institutions to conserve on cue, then resells the resulting "negawatts"--reduction in demand--to utilities in New York, Massachusetts, and California.