Green Wi-Fi, Data Centers, and Network Switches

Who Are the Greenest Vendors?

This study is a very comprehensive evaluation of the efforts of vendors to offer green Wi-Fi equipment, data center equipment, and network switches. In addition to rating vendors for the degree to which they have added green features to their products and reduced power consumption, this report also rates the vendors’ own internal green initiatives. It assesses the degree to which they have conducted carbon footprint studies and developed quantifiable carbon footprint goals. It also examines vendors’ efforts to encourage telepresence and video conferencing to reduce employee travel and telecommuting, thus keeping cars off the road. The research also includes evaluations of the capacity-per-watt measurements of network switches and Wi-Fi controllers, and provides forecasts of the global annual power consumption of PCs, servers, Wi-Fi controllers, Wi-Fi access points and Ethernet switches.

What Questions Does This Report Answer?

  • Who has the greenest Wi-Fi equipment?
  • Who has the greenest data center equipment?
  • Who has the greenest network switching equipment?
  • Which vendors are the greenest in terns of their own corporate efforts?
  • How much will power will PCs, servers, Wi-Fi equipment and network switches consume in 2008 through 2013?
  • What are the technology gaps that still exist for customers trying to green up their IT facilities?

Who Needs This Report?

  • VPs of Marketing for wireline switching vendors, Wi-Fi equipment vendors, and data center equipment vendors
  • Product managers for wireline switching vendors, Wi-Fi equipment vendors and data center equipment vendors.
  • Chip makers
  • CIOs
  • Investment analysts who track green technology and/or the vendors profiled in this report
  • VPs of Marketing for companies that benefit from green IT such as companies supporting green storage, server consolidation, server virtualization, longer-lived batteries, greener power supplies etc.
  • Utility company planners
  • Environmental organizations

Table of Contents


Section 1.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1.1. The “Green” Market for IT Equipment
1.1.1. Drivers and Obstacles
1.1.2. Competitive Test Results Are Suspect
1.2. The Green Data Center
1.2.1. Green Data Center Winners
1.3. Green Wireline Switching
1.3.1. Green Wireline Switch Winners
1.4. Green Wi-Fi Equipment
1.4.1. Green Wi-Fi Equipment Winners
1.5. Forecasts for IT Equipment Power Consumption
1.5.1. PC Power Consumption
1.5.2. Server Power Consumption
1.5.3. Ethernet Switch Power Consumption
1.5.4. Wi-Fi Controller Power Consumption
1.5.5. Wi-Fi Access Point Power Consumption

Section 2.
MARKET ISSUES
2.1. Why is “Green” IT an Issue?
2.2. What Constitutes “Green” IT?
2.2.1. Power Consumption
2.2.1.1. Virtualization
2.2.2. Eco-Friendly Products
2.2.3. Eco-Friendly Packaging
2.2.4. E-Waste
2.2.5. Trade-In Programs
2.2.6. Carbon Footprint
2.3. Drivers for Green Products
2.3.1. Regulatory Requirements
2.3.1.1. The RoHS Directive
2.3.1.2. China’s RoHS
2.3.1.3. Korea’s RoHS
2.3.1.4. WEEE
2.3.2. Cost and Space Savings
2.3.3. Procurement Policies
2.3.3.1. Nortel’s Anti-Cisco TCO Campaign
2.3.4. “Green” Branding
2.3.5. Green Related Products and Services to Reduce Carbon Footprints
2.3.5.1. Telepresence and Video Conferencing
2.3.5.2. Webinars
2.3.5.3. Telecommuter Products
2.4. “Greenwashers”
2.5. Obstacles to the Greening of IT
2.5.1. Cost
2.5.2. Missing Technology
2.5.3. Product Certification – A Work in Progress
2.5.3.1. Energy Star
2.5.3.2. LEED
2.5.3.3. Miercom
2.5.3.4. Other Lab Tests
2.5.3.5. University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory
2.5.3.6. Requirements for an Industry Acceptable Green Certification
2.6. The Green Data Center
2.6.1. Virtualization and Consolidation
2.6.2. Monitoring Data Center Power Usage
2.6.3. Modular Data Centers
2.6.4. The Role of Appliances
2.7. The Green Wireline Network
2.7.1. Very Visible Vendor Battles for “Green” Visibility
2.7.2. Highly Available 24/7 and Green – Is Reconciliation Possible?
2.8. The Green Wi-Fi Network
2.8.1. 802.11n and PoE as an Issue
2.9. The Market for Green Services

Section 3.
TECHNOLOGY ISSUES
3.1. The Green Movement and WLAN Equipment
3.1.1. Architecture
3.1.2. Controllers
3.1.3. Power over Ethernet
3.1.3.1. IEEE 802.3af
3.1.3.2. IEEE 802.3at
3.1.4. Battery Life
3.2. Data Center Green Technology Issues
3.2.1. Measuring Data Center Energy Efficiency
3.2.1.1. Power Usage Efficiency
3.2.1.2. DCiE (Data Center Infrastructure Efficiency)
3.2.1.3. A Government Energy Efficiency Rating for Data Center Products
3.2.2. Energy Efficient Ethernet
3.2.2.1. Server Power Consumption
3.2.2.1.1. Energy Star Server Certification
3.2.2.1.2. SPEC Metric
3.2.2.1.3. ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface)
3.2.2.1.4. DC Powered Servers
3.2.2.1.5. The Green Grid Efforts
3.2.2.1.6. Blades and Racks
3.2.3. Virtualization
3.2.3.1. Server Virtualization
3.2.3.2. Virtualization Metrics
3.2.3.2.1. VMark
3.2.3.2.2. SPEC
3.2.4. Consolidation of Appliances
3.2.5. Modular Data Centers
3.2.6. Power Management
3.2.7. Building Greener Power Supplies
3.2.7.1. 80 PLUS Certification
3.2.8. Greening Storage in the Data Center
3.2.8.1. Storage Industry Group Green Efforts
3.2.8.1.1. The GSI (Green Storage Initiative)
3.2.8.1.2. Methods for Making Storage Greener
3.2.9. The Argument for 10 Gbps Switches
3.2.10. Building Smarter Switches
3.3. Green Printing

Section 4.
KEY INDUSTRY PLAYERS
4.1. Chipmakers
4.1.1. AMD
4.1.2. Broadcom
4.1.3. Intel
4.1.4. Marvell
4.1.5. Qualcomm
4.2. Enterprise Wireline Switch Vendors
4.2.1. Alcatel-Lucent
4.2.2. BLADE Network Technologies
4.2.3. Cisco
4.2.4. Enterasys
4.2.5. Extreme Networks
4.2.6. Force10 Networks
4.2.7. Foundry Networks
4.2.8. Hewlett-Packard ProCurve
4.2.9. Juniper Networks
4.2.10. Nortel
4.3. SMB Wireline Switch Vendors
4.3.1. 3Com
4.3.2. D-Link
4.3.3. Linksys/Cisco
4.3.4. Netgear
4.3.5. SMC
4.4. Wi-Fi Vendors
4.4.1. Aruba Networks
4.4.2. Cisco
4.4.3. Extricom
4.4.4. Hewlett-Packard ProCurve/Colubris
4.4.5. Meru Networks
4.4.6. Motorola
4.4.7. Siemens/Enterasys
4.4.8. Trapeze Networks
4.5. Data Center Product Vendors
4.5.1. Blade Network Technologies
4.5.2. Cisco
4.5.3. Dell
4.5.4. Hewlett-Packard
4.5.5. Huawei
4.5.6. IBM
4.5.7. Rackable Systems
4.5.8. Sun Microsystems
4.6. Green Services Vendors
4.6.1. Accenture
4.6.2. CSC
4.6.3. Hewlett-Packard
4.6.4. IBM
4.6.5. Sun Microsystems

Section 5.
GREEN DATA CENTER SERVER VENDORS:
5.1. Methodology
5.1.1. Implementation Criteria and Weighting
5.1.1.1. Product Portfolio Breadth and Depth
5.1.1.2. Green Value-Add Features
5.1.1.3. Green Intellectual Property
5.1.1.4. Green Certifications and Third-Party Competitive Test Results
5.1.1.5. Tools for Green Data Center Planning
5.1.1.6. Virtualization Tools
5.1.2. Innovation Criteria and Weighting
5.1.2.1. Carbon Footprint Studies and Quantifiable Goals
5.1.2.2. Support for Regulatory Directives
5.1.2.3. Global Recycling
5.1.2.4. Internal Energy Savings Programs
5.1.2.5. Commitment to Video Conferencing, Telepresence, and Telecommuting
5.1.2.6. Environmental Organization Memberships and Level of Commitment
5.2. Leaders
5.2.1. Hewlett-Packard Has the Greenest Data Center Products
5.2.2. IBM and Cisco Are Green Data Center Product Leaders
5.2.3. Dell Is Coming on Strong with Green Data Center Products
5.2.4. Hewlett-Packard and Cisco Edge IBM on Internal Green Efforts
5.2.5. Hewlett-Packard Is the Overall Green Data Center Winner

Section 6.
WIRELINE SWITCHING VENDORS:
6.1. Methodology
6.1.1. Implementation Criteria and Weighting
6.1.1.1. Power Efficiency Score
6.1.1.2. Green Switch Features
6.1.1.3. Green Certifications and Competitive Reviews
6.1.1.4. Efficiency of Power Supplies
6.1.1.5. Tools for Planning Switching Energy Usage
6.1.2. Innovation Criteria and Weighting
6.1.2.1. Carbon Footprint Studies and Quantifiable Goals
6.1.2.2. Support for Regulatory Directives
6.1.2.3. Global Recycling
6.1.2.4. Internal Energy Savings Programs
6.1.2.5. Commitment to Video Conferencing, Telepresence, and Telecommuting
6.1.2.6. Environmental Organization Memberships and Level of Commitment
6.2. Leaders in Enterprise Green Switching
6.2.1. Nortel Has the “Greenest” Switches
6.2.2. Cisco Is the Choice for a Green Services Switching Platform
6.2.3. Enterasys Could Emerge as a Green Wireline Switch Leader
6.2.4. Cisco Emerges as the Overall Green Winner
6.2.5. 3Com Wins Best Green SMB Wireline Switching Vendor

Section 7.
WIRELESS LAN VENDORS:
7.1. Methodology
7.1.1. Implementation Criteria and Weighting
7.1.1.1. Wi-Fi Controller Energy Efficiency Score
7.1.1.2. Value-Add Green Features
7.2. Leaders in Green Wi-Fi Equipment
7.2.1. Motorola Has the Greenest WLAN Equipment
7.2.2. Siemens Is a Strong Green Vendor
7.2.3. Hewlett-Packard ProCurve Will Challenge for Green Leadership

Section 8.
MARKET FORECASTS
8.1. PC Power Consumption
8.2. Server Power Consumption
8.3. Ethernet Switch Power Consumption
8.4. Wi-Fi Controller Power Consumption
8.5. Wi-Fi Access Point Power Consumption

Section 9.
RELATED RESEARCH

Section 10.
COMPANY DIRECTORY

Section 11.
ACRONYMS
SCOPE OF STUDY
SOURCES AND METHODOLOGY
NOTES



Tables
  • Power Efficiency for Enterprise Network Switches 48-port Switches Vendor Ratings
  • Power Efficiency for SMB Network Switches 48-port Switches Vendor Ratings
  • Power Efficiency for Wi-Fi Controllers Vendor Ratings
  • PC Power Consumption Global Forecast: 2008 to 2013
  • Server Power Consumption Global Forecast: 2008 to 2013
  • Ethernet Switches Power Consumption Global Forecast: 2008 to 2013
  • Wi-Fi Controller Power Consumption Global Forecast: 2008 to 2013
  • Wi-Fi Access Point Power Consumption Global Forecast: 2008 to 2013

Charts
  • PC Power Consumption, Global Forecast: 2008 to 2013
  • Server Power Consumption, Global Forecast: 2008 to 2013
  • Ethernet Switches Power Consumption, Global Forecast: 2008 to 2013
  • Wi-Fi Controller Point Consumption, Global Forecast: 2008 to 2013
  • Wi-Fi Access Point Power Consumption, Global Forecast: 2008 to 2013

Figures
  • Hewlett-Packard’s Current Goals as of August 2008