‘Green IT' strategy unveiled

Paul Luff: “The local market is now falling in line with the global effort to introduce environmentally friendly technology”.

Investment in product development has seen significant gains in efficiency over the past couple of years. These have been especially evident in Ethernet switching, where SMC Networks has moved towards more integrated technology such as single-chip architecture, intelligent power designs for optimal Power-over-Ethernet and a simplified component design.

We believe our company's newest Ethernet switch families, the SMC61XX 10/100 switches and SMC81XX 10/100/1000 are excellent examples of single-chip architecture switches that use minimal power, leveraging tier 1 chip-sets for optimal performance and efficiency.

Many of our competitors choose to shut down unused switch ports to save energy, but we have found ways to reduce overall power consumption whilst leaving all ports and components on and available - resulting in smoother operation, longer life and better overall network performance.

Iain Kenney, the company's Director of Product Marketing comments: “It is important that striving for more energy efficient products does not diminish the quality of the product. Some manufacturers implement energy-saving processes in their products that increase the likelihood of full or partial device failure, or reduce overall networking efficiency for the sake of power. We are always mindful that the underlying network still needs to be reliable and optimised for efficiency.”

The company has an on-going program to reduce its products' ongoing energy usage and reduce the impact of its manufacturing processes on the environment. The company also focuses on minimising, and ultimately finding alternatives to, hazardous substances used to fabricate components used in its electronics components. The company's products comply with the European Union's Directives on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and with the European Union's RoHS Directive (restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment) since before the directives were in force.

It is also already in compliance with the new China and Korea RoHS standards. All SMC Networks packaging features the Green dot® symbol, which demonstrates the company meets its obligation for collection and recycling waste packaging in accordance with the European Directive.

The local market is now falling in line with the global effort to introduce environmentally friendly technology. This is driven by a growing awareness among technology vendors of the need for infrastructure and solutions that reduce power consumption and optimise resources to minimise impact on the environment. Networks represent the epicentre of communications infrastructure and it is natural that we would be positioned at the forefront of this worldwide trend.