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Years ago I had a notion that I wanted to build a desk for my home office out of a 9 foot glass door salvaged from an office building remodel project.  I fired up the wood-shop and milled up some simple but effective truss supports out of some old beams that I had laying around (yes, I had beams laying around) and that has been my desk for the past several years.  Great work surface, but glass desks, although sleek and modern, are not all they are cracked up to be.  They remind you how many times you touch the glass; that your shoes need a good polish, and that the mess of wires and blinking lights from your network are suck juice like a ten year old on a playground.  Maybe it’s a blessing  that I’m constantly reminded that I need to do something about our network, but then again, I’m reminded of so many things that I need to address.

Those of you with an ample supply of network routers and switches like me will be pleased to learn that D-link had come up with a line of power friendly network products.  Dubbed their Dlink Switch line, the series of 5, 8, 16 and 24 port switches employ special power-saving features that detect link status and cable length and adjust power usage to match demand.

According to D-link, PCs connected to the Green Ethernet switch can save up to 85.65% power used for each system when shut off.   If there is no cable link or the linked device is turned off, Green Ethernet will put that port in a “sleep mode,” reducing power used for that port and saving energy.  Green Ethernet also detects Ethernet cable length and adjusts power usage to save energy. This way, a port connected to a 20 meter cable only uses as much power as it needs, instead of using full power, which is only needed for 100 meter cables.   

In a standard workday scenario where PCs are used for 10 hours a day and powered off 14 hours a day, and connected to the switch using 20 meter cables, D-Link’s Green Ethernet can save up to 44% power used for each system.

Not a bad power savings for devices that are always on in our homes and offices.  Currently D-link is running a rebate program through January 31, 2008. The 5 port mode sells for $54.99 and the 8 port model for $74.99.  Both have $10 rebates. I was not able to obtain pricing and availability information on the 16 and 24 port rack-mount models at the time this article was published.

Check out their website to learn more about this technology and how you can create a green network and reduce your power usage.

Technorati Tags: 16 port, 24 port, 5 port, 8 port, Ethernet, friendly network, low power network, Network, Network Power, network routers, Power Savings, Power use, routers and switches, saving energy, Switch, vista power management

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