Cisco takes the greener network path
Cisco on Tuesday launched a three-phase plan to reduce the energy consumption of datacentres, network infrastructure and attached devices such as phones, video-surveillance cameras, wireless-access points and in the datacentre.
Cisco said the EnergyWise strategy, intended for Cisco Catalyst switches, is for measuring, reporting on and reducing the energy consumption of IP devices. The company also announced industry partnerships that it said could help reduce power consumption in buildings from lights, lifts, air conditioning and heating.
The first phase of the plan, to be launched in February, will cover network control of the Cisco Catalyst switches.
The second phase will be launched in the summer and will cover the control of IT resources. At the same time, the company claimed, it will also have expanded industry support of EnergyWise on devices such as PCs, laptops and printers.
The final phase, which is due in early 2010, will focus on building controls and will also be extended to cover the management of building system assets such as heating, ventilation and air conditioning, lifts, lights, employee-badge-access systems, fire-alarm systems and security systems.
According to Dave Frampton, general manager for the switching business unit at Cisco, the company is getting involved in green datacentre strategies because "[Cisco sits] at the centre so [Cisco is] the logical place to blend together all the middleware element".
"The IP network is the single pervasive element," he said.
EnergyWise is intended to provide "real-time, granular measurement capabilities to give chief information officers better visibility into energy savings across an entire organisation", Cisco said in its statement.
The EnergyWise programme is available to users of Cisco 2K and 3K switches at no charge, Frampton said.