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If you are in the data center business, get to know PUE: Power Usage Efficiency. PUE is a measure of how much additional electrical power is needed for cooling to deliver computing power. A PUE of 1 means all power being used for computing and none for cooling.

A 2007 US EPA survey put the PUE for your average data center at 2.

On the other hand, Google claims a PUE of less than 1.21 for six large scale Google-designed data centers.

Now vendors are responding to the need with self-contained low PUE computing systems packaged in shipping-style containers. SUN was first with their MD S20 with 280 pizza servers in one container, while the Verari Systems solution has 1400 blade servers.

Very large low PUE data centers such as required by Google, Microsoft and Yahoo! can be built by deploying warehouses with potentially hundreds or even thousands of these containers. In fact, that's happening today.

I wrote awhile back that there were three problems with Energywise:
1) It is a security breach waiting to happen.
2) Apps should run on IP networks not be slave to them.
3) Painting Cisco switches with EnergyWise paint doesn't make them any more energy efficient. The Cisco Energy Tax lives on.

Now, Mike Fratto talks to a fourth major problem, when he says
"Cisco's EnergyWise, which proposes building-wide energy management, should have gone to the International Telecommunication Union three years ago."

So buyer beware.

Mike continues on a differnet front:
"Take network access control. Cisco has all but abandoned its NAC framework and partner program. Microsoft threw some of its Network Access Protection specifications to the Trusted Computing Group, but Cisco consistently has refused to even acknowledge the TCG's legitimacy. So much for interoperability."

Need I say more?

Greenroots is Nortel's new blog devoted to all things green!

Back in August, I highlighted the walkstation. Now a potential competitor has emerged.

All you need is pedals to turn this slick ergonomic PC chair into a green-friendly workstation!

Previously, I highlighted three problems with Cisco's EnergyWise:
1) security vulnerabilities,
2) it's should be an app, and
3) it doesn't make Cisco switches any more efficient.

Now Art Wittmann has raised the very valid concern that it's proprietary to Cisco and its few partners. He observes "So if you happen to be a Cisco, Schneider, SolarWinds, or Verdiem shop--lucky you!" But if you're one of these and want to change, you have just been locked in. And if you're not one of these, you have just been locked out. Ugh! This is not the business practice that is going to help save this planet.

Art then hit the nail on the head: "there was a buck to made, so Cisco decided not to go that (standards) route". Sounds familiar.

No argument for me: Green IT is critical important for Profit, People and Planet..

There're three problems with Cisco's EnergyWise.

Firstly, EnergyWise is a security breach waiting to happen. Do you want your network to be powering down your call server, or contact center or security cameras? I think not.

Secondly, the EnergyWise announcement once again, goes against the principle that apps should run on IP networks not be slave to them. Do a search on 'energy management software' and you'll get 34 million hits. Sounds like EnergyWise is really a lock-in strategy which enterprises would be wise to avoid.

Thirdly, painting Cisco routers and switches with EnergyWise paint doesn't make them any more energy efficient. In fact third party tests prove that Nortel switches consistently have lower energy consumption needs than Cisco's.... by a whopping 40%. The Cisco Energy Tax lives on, month after month after month.

Going to the store in a gas guzzler to buy energy efficient light bulbs doesn't make your car any more energy efficient!

But seriously, I agree with Cisco that the only way to make a Cisco network green is to turn it off; where I disagree is that if you want to be EnergyWise don't turn it back on again!

Be energy wise. Make green IT real, as did Office Max, one of the world's largest office product supply companies, who this week announced a major win for Nortel.

Hyperconnectivity includes all sorts of mobility modes and networking technologies.

I recently heard a BBC interview with Giovanni Pau of UCLA. He was discussing an innovative wireless mesh networking technology that he has deployed in a number of vehicles across the UCLA campus.

What he demonstrated was car-to-car video conferencing system, though perhaps this isn't the best example of how this technology could be used. The protocol that made this all happen across standard WiFi radios was what he called SWARM, a Swarming Protocol for vehicular Ad-Hoc Wireless Networks.

You might be aware that Nortel is partner in the MIT-initiated One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) program, and in fact was a major contributor in the area of ad hoc wireless mesh networking.

Hyperconnectivity will be enabled by a whole range of technologies, many existing and some yet to be invented.

The Triple Bottom Line (3BL) captures an expanded spectrum of CXO criteria for measuring organizational success: Profit, People and Planet".

This comes from some UN work and is being adopted by governments around the world, perhaps even in your community.

It's both an accounting principle and a general philosophy.

40% reduction in energy consumption with Nortel Ethernet campus and data center solutions is a significant step towards the Triple Bottom Line.

Hyperconnectivity drives powering needs as everything and everyone gets connected and as server farms expand to meet the demand.

A to-be-published Nemertes survey report finds that 23% of US CIO have a green program. One element is of course improving energy efficiency of the underlying IT infrastructure.

One societal goal is to reduce energy demands, as we have done in our Ethernet switches (would you believe 40% less energy consumed compared to Cisco?).

Another societal goal is to expand the use of clean renewal energy sources.

Ocean waves are a major opportunity. I can personally attest to the power of waves of the mega variety (would you believe 20 meters or 60 feet high). I experienced just such waves when my cruise ship went through a category 3 hurricane off the coast of Argentina (the first hurricane to be ever observed by satellite in the southern Atlantic). They kept coming and coming- clean, renewable and powerful (even breaking the window in one cabin!)

A major milestone has been reached with the first commercial wave energy generator being commissioned off the coast of Portugal. (Pelamis Wave Power). Within a year, it will be generating 22.5MW of clean renewable power.

Imagine putting a self-winding watch in a bottle in the middle of the ocean. It will run indefinitely.

Last summer in Rotterdam, six teams competed in a Formula 0 race, a new zero emission race series took place on a .5Km track. Each car was powered by a commercial fuel cell that produces electricity from hydrogen.

How does this relate to green networking?

We are certainly not about to introduce an Ethernet Switch powered by a fuel cell. But green is certainly top of mind in Nortel, expressed as developing solutions that allows our customers to stop paying the Cisco Energy Tax ... and get some virtual cars off the road.

Did you know that every time you buy a CAT6500 instead of ERS8600....
• It is like adding 3.9 cars on the road per year !!!
• CO2 emissions = Electricity of 2.8 homes per year !!!
• CO2 emissions = Energy use of 1.9 homes per year !!!
• CO2 emissions = 2,415 Gallons of gasoline consumed

This is huge... and important.

University of Toledo (Ohio) is a case in point. The $1.5 million in estimated costs savings* on electrical consumption over 5 years provided a compelling case for making a switch from the University's incumbent networking vendor to Nortel. Their decision kept lots of virtual cars off the roads!

So you probably have some home to do and the Nortel Energy Efficiency Calculator could help.