Can your IT network support your sustainability goals?

Cutting energy consumption by 70% and reducing CO2 emissions with FTTO

Keeping it cool

Today’s companies need to meet their sustainability goals, but also need to power an ever-increasing number of devices, such as IoT equipment, sensors and Wireless Access Points. According to analysts, ICT can make up as much as 5% of a building energy bill.[1] One way of reducing this is by introducing ‘intelligent’ network components and systems. For example: network switches can optimize efficiency by scheduling port and wireless access, constantly adjusting power usage or shutting down automatically when not in use.

‘Fibre To The Office’ (FTTO), a fibre-based LAN concept reduces energy consumption and therefore, CO2 emissions during the use phase. So how does FTTO help achieve this? FTTO solutions use fewer active and passive components than traditional network designs. The benefits of copper and fibre are combined for maximum performance with reduced energy consumption. FTTO Switches consume very little power: 5-6 Watts per switch and only ~0.7W per port[2]. This is nearly half of the total power consumption of floor distribution switches in traditional networks.

Total Power Consumption (including central equipment and core switches) per active FTTO port is 2.8W, nearly half of the Total Power Consumption per port in a traditional network design with floor distribution switches. In FTTO networks, power is used for data transfer/switching but less for technical cooling. Data is transported over a fibre optic channel with reduced energy losses in the cable so less heat is generated. In some cases, savings up to 50% may be achieved In traditional network designs, floor distribution switches may consume a great deal of power and require efficient cooling to dissipate heat. Nexans FTTO Switches remain cooler than the industry average and, therefore, are likely to have a longer operational lifetime.

[1] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energiestandard

[2] With Nexans Energy Efficient Ethernet Function activated

Energy-saving, waste-reducing infrastructure

Nexans’ LANactive FTTO Switches, can optimize data transfer rates based oń actual user needs and preferences. 'Energy-efficient mode' can reduce data transfer rates depending on requirements at any given moment. With Nexans Energy Efficient Ethernet (EEE), according to the IEEE 802.3az standard, ports consume power only when data is transferred. Tests with EEE show it can deliver power savings of 45–80%. Switches feature PoE/PoE+ and Nexans Eco Mode dynamically accommodates the user´s actual needs. Short copper cable pathways for PoE minimize the power loss on the cable. As a result, energy costs can be cut by up to 70%. What’s more TCO can be reduced by 40% and installation time by 60%.

Further benefits

FTTOs centralised structure makes servicing the network much easier and less costly. There are no service costs for air-conditioning, fire protection, uninterruptible power supplies and so on. Each FTTO switch is connected to the central distribution switch with one or two SFP-Uplinks and has four user ports, each with Gigabit Ethernet capability.

Like traditional structured cabling, FTTO infrastructures can support several generations of active equipment and last for well over 20 years. When new standards or new equipment arrives, there’s no need to replace the cabling. That means lower costs, reduced energy consumption during use phase and less need for new components to be manufactured. Also, implementing redundancy topologies is easier and less costly.

FTTO offers benefits related to power consumption and is also an excellent solution for creating networks that offer a lower carbon footprint, without compromising on network performance. FTTO may, in theory, help reduce environmental impact in terms of CO2 and energy consumption reduction whilst providing a future-proof, high bandwidth solution.