Data Center Network
sponsored by Dell Force10
Data Center Network Solutions Provider Force10's Top-of-Rack Switches Receive TerraPass Carbon Credit
By Ashok BindraGigabit Ethernet (GbE) switches provider Force10 Networks has announced the expansion of its carbon credit program to include models of its S-Series 10/40 GbE top-of-rack (ToR) access switches. This program expansion now enables Force10 customers who buy ExaScale virtualized core switch/routers and the S4810 top-of-rack switch to receive carbon credits, which offset greenhouse gas emissions associated with the energy consumption of these solutions.
Carbon credits are provided through a third party like TerraPass. As part of the Force10 Carbon-Balanced Switch/Router Initiative, for every unit of the S4810 sold, Force10 will retire carbon credits to balance the greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the S4810’s electricity consumption for the life of the switch or up to five years, whichever occurs first, said the supplier.
According to Force10, TerraPass then uses those offsets to help fund clean energy and carbon reduction projects throughout the U.S., including wind power, farm power, and landfill gas capture to create verified offsets for the carbon emissions generated by the ToR switches.
Force10 said that the latest step it has taken will result in positive environmental change while simultaneously lowering operating expenses for its customers.
"With budgets static and businesses more reliant on network performance than ever before, IT staffs require a complete switching solution," said Arpit Joshipura, chief marketing officer, Force10 Networks (News - Alert), in a statement. “By incorporating the popular S4810 into our carbon credit program, users can reap the benefits of the lower power/cooling costs in addition to enjoying a switching solution that is part of the industry’s only end-to-end 40 GbE product line that delivers extremely low latency with unmatched reliability.”
In addition to providing a more energy-efficient ToR solution, the Force10 S4810 switch recently demonstrated 5 percent to 70 percent lower latency than comparable switches in a 10 GbE configuration based on a network performance and power test, the maker said. The independent benchmarking study was conducted by independent industry analyst, Nick Lippis of The Lippis Group, and Ixia (News 
- Alert), a leader in converged IP network test solutions. The tests on the S4810 and competitive switches were for RFC-based latency, performance and power consumption measurements in Layer 2 and Layer 3 configurations.
Ashok Bindra is a veteran writer and editor with more than 25 years of editorial experience covering RF/wireless technologies, semiconductors and power electronics. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by Patrick Barnard
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