Green Your Network Blog

In a press release earlier this year, Gartner, Inc. highlighted 10 key predictions of events and developments that will affect IT and business decisions in the coming years.

“Selected from across our research areas as the most compelling and critical predictions, the trends and topics they address this year indicate a strong focus on individuals, the environment, and alternative ways of buying and selling IT services and technologies,” said Daryl Plummer, managing vice president and Gartner Fellow.

What I found interesting was the proportion of environmentally related predictions. Three of the 12 highlighted in this article were environmentally focused, that’s 25 percent! This is an unprecedented change from the past predictions of prior years. If this is not a statement of where our societies focus is moving, I don’t know what is.

We’ve all heard the cyclical argument with respect to environmental trends, but “Gartner’s” predictions tend to carry greater authority with respect to where executives and IT professionals will take action in 2008 and beyond.

Below I have summarized the 12 predictions. For more information, or to read this article in its entirety, simply click the link below.

• By 2011, Apple will double its U.S. and Western Europe unit market share in computers.
• By 2012, 50 percent of traveling workers will leave their notebooks at home in favor of other devices.
• By 2012, 80 percent of all commercial software will include elements of open-source technology.
• By 2012, at least one-third of business application software spending will be as service subscription instead of as product license.
• By 2011, early technology adopters will forgo capital expenditures and instead purchase 40 percent of their IT infrastructure as a service.
• By 2009, more than one-third of IT organizations will have one or more environmental criteria in their top six buying criteria for IT-related goods.
• By 2010, 75 percent of organizations will use full life cycle energy and carbon footprint as mandatory PC hardware buying criteria.
• By 2011, suppliers to large global enterprises will need to prove their green credentials via an audited process to retain preferred supplier status.
• By 2010, end-user preferences will decide as much as half of all software, hardware and services acquisitions made by IT.
• Through 2011, the number of 3-D printers in homes and businesses will grow 100-fold over 2006 levels.

Full article can be found here: http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=593207

Reuse…Save up to 90% off list price and save the environment too when you shop at UsedCisco.com

By Joshua Levitt
Managing Director for UsedCisco.com

The Consumer Electronics Association, set a new precedent when they vowed to make the “Consumer Electronics Show” in Las Vegas last week, the largest carbon-neutral event in the world.

The tradeshow typically draws 140,000 attendees from around the world and produces an estimated, twenty thousand metric tons of CO2 in just one week. Most of that is the hotel space: 63 percent is from hotels, 24 percent from freight, 12 percent from the convention center and then the [show space at the] Sands, the Hilton and the Venetian hotels.

How is carbon neutrality being achieved?

CES teamed up with the nonprofit Carbonfund.org to raise $110,000 to purchase carbon offsets that will invested in renewable energy, reforestation and energy efficiency endeavors.

Specific investments were made in alternative energy sources like wind energy and methane. Other contributions were made towards reforestation and overall improvements in industrial energy efficiency.

Congratulations to CES for recognizing their span of influence and using their platform to set a positive example. Particularly in an industry that is so highly criticized for it’s carbon output and contributions towards e-waste.

Reuse…Save up to 90% off list price and save the environment too when you shop at UsedCisco.com

Taken From Newsweek

Cutting edge runway fashion is often criticized for being too abstract and unrealistic. Most of the styles showcased in these forums are never adopted by mainstream public consumption channels. So why then do fashion designers continue to invest in such theoretical ideals?

The best answer I have encountered is one where the fashions are never intended to be adopted by the general population, but rather an artistic medium used to highlight or exaggerate specific emerging trends.

So What does this have to do with formula 1 racing and more importantly the environment?

Just like fashion runways set the style precedents in their industry, commercial automobile racing platforms do the same in the auto industry. Millions of dollars are spent in R&D for these state of the art high performance engines. The marketing benefit more than covers the investment. These multi million dollar racing machines are exaggerated versions of the emerging trends in auto engine development.

Until now, most of the investment was focused entirely on speed and performance with no conscious effort to be efficient. For that reason, the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile, the organization that governs much of the world’s auto racing issued a “total freeze” on engine development in Paris on Oct. 24. The move is intended to trigger theF1 community towards rapid innovation in hybrid and alternative fuel systems.

Honda’s Formula 1 racing team has made environmental consciousness the centerpiece of its image. The Honda F1 team alone spends $250 million each year just on engine development. Spending even a fraction of that to develop hybrid and alternative-fuel technology would bring spectacular advancement.

Advancements are already being made on this front. “Energy Efficient Motorsports”, a division of Britain’s Department of Trade and Industry has begun development of their patented “Kinetic-energy recovery systems”, which will make it’s F1 debut in 2009.

These systems use a flywheel in the transmission to capture the energy generated during braking and store it for use during acceleration. It improves the current technology used in hybrid cars, which rely on heavy batteries to store recovered energy.

Re-focusing the Formula 1 racing investments on greener alternatives is paving the way for efficient technologies to be financed and developed. Hopefully in good time, these fashions will trickle down to the mass production level and not stay on the theoretical “runway.”

Reuse…Save up to 90% off list price and save the environment too when you shop at UsedCisco.com

Taken From Wired Magazine

Former Vice President Al Gore and the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize in OSLO on Friday for their extraordinary efforts in the war against global warming.

“I am deeply honored to receive the Nobel Peace Prize,” Gore said. “We face a true planetary emergency. The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity.”

The Nobel Peace Prize is one of humanity’s highest international honors and the recent award recipient speaks volumes about the larger issues facing our collective global community. The evolution of ethics is ongoing, and seldom do we see such a clear example of our world changing with respect to the popular media.

I have blogged on this concept previously but never before has it been more relevant than with today’s announcement.
Ethics, by definition is a code of sorts, dictated by our conscience. These are laws which are defined by morality and society. They do not always require external enforcement because they are self evident.
For example, less than 200 years ago in this country, women were not given the right to vote. Today women’s suffrage is considered an uncontroversial right. This change of conscience benefited our society at large. We instantly doubled the mass of mental faculties available for the higher service of humanity. The freedom and ideas of half the population produced a great effect on human development and increased our overall quality of life.

These ideas seem obvious now but looking back, they were not so clear for their time. Who knows, perhaps ethics evolved for the cavemen when they realized “stealing” was wrong, and if they all resisted the urge, their lives would all improve. There are countless examples when you trace back our history as a species things like slavery, equal employment opportunities; or now, pollution to name a few. If you think we are done evolving our ethics, you’d be kidding yourself. Who knows, in another 200 years our ethics could include almost anything you can or can’t fathom.

Just like children (hopefully) mature, we as a species are maturing. We are constantly evolving towards a better quality of life and more efficient use of our planets resources. As the global population continues to grow at an exponential rate it’s critical to learn how to make more efficient use or eliminate entirely the use of non renewable resources, for our own survival. As we become more aware of these sobering realities our ethics evolve. That is precisely what’s happening with the recent green awareness you see all around you. Today’s awarding of the “Nobel Peace Price” to an environmental initiative is perfect proof of where our ethics are headed. Someday soon, you can expect, if you don’t already, to feel badly about polluting. Where-as 100 years ago, people did not think twice about the issue.

The thing to remember is that energy is never created nor destroyed. The same energy exists on this planet as did 4.5 billion years ago when it was created. The difference now is, we have learned how to utilize that energy in a more efficient manner through the use of simple to more complex machines. When we burn something we simply release the “potential” energy from a solid and transfer it to heat and light. That energy simply transformed, but it did not disappear. Think about it, We’ve all heard about the “cycle of life.” when we pass on, our body decomposes and all the energy used to build our carbon forms are released in to the soil and ultimately become the building blocks for other plant and animal life.

Energy efficiency is the key to our species survival on this planet and it transcends any and all national and cultural boundaries on earth. That is why, the popular “Green” movement is such a big deal. Todays prestigious award is a great example of this current ethical evolution under way. This evolution of ethics NEEDS to be adopted by ALL humans for us to survive. Our population is on the rise and our resources are on the decline, do the math!
Watch a video on politics leading up to the recent “Nobel Peace Prize” committee decision:

Reuse…Save up to 90% off list price and save the environment too when you shop at UsedCisco.com

Last week, “British Airways” announced their largest investment in new planes since 1998. The $8 billion Jet order included, 12 twin-deck Airbus A380s and 24 midsize 787 Dreamliners as part of its plan to reduce carbon emissions and upgrade its fleet.

The British Airways chief executive, Willie Walsh, said in an interview that environmental concerns had been a prime factor in the choice of new jets.

“These aircraft set the gold standard when it comes to environmental performance,” Mr. Walsh said. “They will contribute significantly to our target of improving fuel efficiency by 25 percent between 2005 and 2025.”

The Dreamliner, is the first commercial jet to be made of more than 50 percent carbon fiber and other lightweight plastics, rather than aluminum. The A380s would emit 17 percent less carbon dioxide per seat than the 747-400s they will replace, while the 787s would be 30 percent cleaner than the 767s.

Reuse…Save up to 90% off list price and save the environment too when you shop at UsedCisco.com

Taken From The New York Times

By Joshua Levitt
E-Commerce Sales and Marketing Manager for UsedCisco.com

Several articles have come out recently advertising the fact that we are “getting green, but not green enough. Some of you; like myself, may have found that puzzling. Particularly because it seems like almost daily that we see or read about another organization going green with some new initiative or another.

So why then all the cynicism?

Let’s view “Green” as a destination or a finish line of sorts. One would assume that we are getting closer to that goal simply through an availability heuristic facilitated by the media and all the hype surrounding green initiatives. However, the unfortunate truth is, we are getting further away from that goal daily.

Why?

As the Internet grows, demand for bandwidth is ever increasing. We are migrating towards a more sophisticated Internet with a multimedia focus. Increased demand for video, audio and large graphic files is on the rise. More and more people are getting wired by the minute globally and all this growth brings an exponentially larger demand for network hardware. Big data centers housing all this hardware can devour several megawatts of power, enough for a small city. Most of the power (60-70%) consumed in these data centers is used just to keep it cool.

Several efficiency improvements are reducing the amount of energy gulped up by network hardware appliances, but the industry’s overall electricity consumption could double from 2006 to 2011 as demand grows.

So are we getting green enough?

Not if you are looking at that finish line up ahead and it keeps getting further away. It’s a lot easier for companies to put out a big press release than to build a data center with a significantly smaller environmental footprint. The key is to make a real commitment to true environmental neutrality. Meaning, these organizations should look within at their own carbon output and come up with a real strategy to reduce it, or even become completely neutral. The technology is out there, more ">energy efficient servers exist and there are countless ways to improve the airflow in data centers with natural cooling. The EPA says a 45 percent improvement, enough to lower electricity usage by 2011, can be achieved with existing technologies.

So, let us not continue to applaud companies that announce they are twice as energy efficient than they used to be, when they are simultaneously gobbling up three times as many resources than before. We should require a more aggressive commitment from these organizations, instead of a cheap PR stunt. Too many of these companies are simply blowing a lot of smoke (pun intended :)).

Reuse…Save up to 90% off list price and save the environment too when you shop at UsedCisco.com

By Joshua Levitt
E-Commerce Sales and Marketing Manager for UsedCisco.com

Earlier this week hundreds of delegates convened at the Tyndall Centre’s inaugural conference to discuss, “financing green technology.”

Countless examples of failed carbon pricing initiatives from all over the world were outlined before a general consensus was reached stating that, “carbon pricing alone would not stimulate the innovation needed to deliver green technologies.”

The alternative cited was, “bold legislation,” when used properly was the best hope of delivering low carbon technologies. The successful example cited was that of the “catalytic converter.” The US introduced clean air legislation in the 1970s and drove innovation by guaranteeing a market. Many engineers said that cleaning up emissions from cars was impossible, but despite their predictions, the catalytic converter was born and there has been a thousand-fold reduction in emissions since then.

The conference concluded that combination of legislation and direct help from the public sector would be essential for carbon technologies to make a significant impact in buying decisions.

Do you agree with their conclusions or do you think there is hope for a self financed private sector to tackle climate change?

Taken from: Business Green Blog

By Joshua Levitt
E-Commerce Sales and Marketing Manager for UsedCisco.com

When most of us think about the Chinese impact on the environment, we consider their major manufacturing facilities spewing out carbon dioxide at an alarming rate with no sign of slowing anytime soon. China threatens to become the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases by November this year, partly because it manufactures products to satiate the bulbous American appetite and consumption demands.

A chimney spouts a column of smoke in residential and commercial district of Beijing, China. (AP / Elizabeth Dalziel)

However, the burning of fossil fuels is not the only environmental impression being made in the Far East. Believe it or not the manufacturing of counterfeit electronic equipment is the silent killer here and a major contributor to the earth’s negative health prognosis.

What’s the connection?
Did you know that according to recent study by IT market research firm, Gartner, the energy from manufacturing, distribution and use of information and communications technology emits approximately 2 percent of total global carbon dioxide, which is equal to the emissions from the entire airline industry. The largest culprit in this category is “e-waste” defined as a waste type consisting of any broken or unwanted electrical or electronic appliance. It is a point of concern considering that many components of such equipment are considered toxic and are not biodegradable.

The number one combatant for the global e-waste problem has been a recent focus on “Reuse.” Reuse is responsible for bringing new-life to excess or discarded electronic items before they are casually disposed of and turned into a nocuous e-waste. Thankfully, as a natural result of consumer’s dual demands to reduce costs and reduce global warming a secondary market for refurbished electronic goods has flourished.

So what’s the problem?
The Chinese relaxed attitude towards intellectual-property rights and often state-sanctioned piracy and counterfeiting facilities have become increasingly sophisticated. The inability to discern between the authentic products and the counterfeit is a narrowing margin at best. Sophisticated counterfeit products have placed a real threat on those secondary markets designed to extend the lifecycle of an electronic product and keep it from transforming into e-waste.

A perfect example is counterfeit Cisco equipment, collectively referred to in the industry as “Chisco” (counterfeit Cisco equipment originating in China). Over the past decade the secondary market for network hardware has flourished. The late dotcom bubble burst flooded the market with excess network hardware which was perfectly functional and valuable to many organizations with budgetary constraints. On account of the high price points for Cisco equipment, coupled with the availability of their hardware in the used market, resellers like UsedCisco.com grew in leaps and bounds. Like the auto industry, where the “used” market is even larger than the “new,” the secondary market for refurbished network hardware is poised to grow at a similar rate.

Until now
Chinese sophistication and distribution of Chisco has placed a real threat on the secondary market for Cisco equipment. Network managers have grown fearful of the potential to acquire counterfeit network hardware products. Their networks cannot afford to fail on account of a faulty switch or router. Worse, their jobs could be compromised on account of a poor purchasing decision. Therefore, network managers are beginning to shy away from the cost savings that refurbished hardware represent and defaulting towards a more expensive peace of mind solution in buying new.

According to a white paper by AGMA and consulting company KPMG, counterfeit products account for nearly 10% of the overall IT products market. That’s $100 billion in fake memory sticks, drives, monitors, networking gear and other IT products floating around. “The vast majority is still being purchased from gray market, uncertified resellers who unload their goods on eBay at extremely low prices,” says Scott Augenbaum, supervisory special agent for the FBI Cybercrime Fraud unit in Washington, D.C.

If the secondary market slows, the “reuse” movement will be dealt a serious blow. Countless pieces of valuable equipment will end up being broken down and processed through poorly managed facilities, in developing countries, leading to significant health risks and causing a major negative impact on the environment. The Cisco counterfeit efforts in China are certainty short sighted and harmful to all living species in the long run. With just a few simple tips outlined below and some knowledge about how to identify Chisco, we will be back on the right track in no time.

How to protect yourself
Buying secondary network hardware is not a risky endeavor for the educated buyer. Here are the tips you need to help you locate a qualified reseller and help take advantage of the incredible value offered in the secondary market. Be vigilant about who you purchase from. Make sure you use a reputable reseller, this includes, history in business, references and warranty replacement policies. As long as you stay away from eBay and deal directly with resellers who have longstanding history in the industry, a written replacement policy guaranteeing the authenticity of their products and a clean supply chain there is no problem. Customers who shop in the secondary market save an average of 65 – 95% off list price and usually receive a minimum warranty of 1-2 years on their purchases.

Included below is a comprehensive guide for identifying counterfeit Cisco fakes.

Guide Background
This guide is a collaboration of several years of Cisco purchasing experience as well as many articles that have come out on the subject. The information provided here was an internal document that has been closely guarded at UsedCisco.com for the past 4 years. This exclusive information was kept proprietary for fear of tipping off the counterfeiters and assisting them in perfecting their efforts. “We hoped by publishing these secrets and through the collective contribution of others we can help put the counterfeiters out of business” Said Stephen Dale, Web Systems Director at UsedCisco.com. The content is rapidly changing as counterfeiters become more and sophisticated.

The guide is broken down into 6 separate categories: Packaging and labeling discrepancies, clues in the manual, visible interior and exterior flaws, how to choose a sourcing channel, and pricing identifiers.

It is recommended that you print and display this guide for anyone in your organization that comes in contact with your inventory. Relevant departments include, purchasing, sales, warehouse operations, fulfillment and all management personnel.

Remember, with all the changes, the best indicator of a fake is going to consistently be, “price.” A 65 – 95% discount off list price is standard in the secondary market. However, If you are getting quoted a discount in the neighborhood of 40-55% off list for a brand new item, in a sealed box it can be a red flag. Standard discounts usually range from 15-25% off list price on new/sealed hardware (not including schools and government accounts). Make sure you are being quoted a fair and realistic price. Expect a reasonable discount, but; too big is a sure sign of trouble. Remember the old adage, “If it seems too good to be true, it often is.”

Reuse…Save up to 90% off list price and save the environment too when you shop at UsedCisco.com

By Joshua Levitt
E-Commerce Sales and Marketing Manager for UsedCisco.com

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Resources:
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2006/102306counterfeit.html
http://www.coastnetwork.com/counterfeitcisco.html
http://www.andovercg.com/services/cisco-counterfeit-wic-1dsu-t1-v2.shtml
http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/12273
http://www.usedcisco.com/press-amc1.aspx

The National Recycling Coalition in February awarded Dell the organization’s annual Recycling Works Award for the company’s efforts. NRC Executive Director Kate Krebs said at the time that Dell’s environmental initiatives “put them head and shoulders above any other electronics company.”

Dell recovered an impressive 78 million pounds, or nearly 40,000 tons, of IT equipment from their customers last year.

“Customers should not be forced into improper disposal due to a lack of environmentally responsible options” said Michael Dell, chairman and chief executive of the company in a statement last month.

Dell partnered with Goodwill Industries to help consumers donate electronics of any brand. The company also offers product recovery services to institutional customers, and has partnered with the National Cristina Foundation in a program that enables customers to donate any working computer system to non-profit organizations in their areas.

Dell has publicly set a goal of recovering 275 million pounds of computer equipment by 2009.

I sincerely hope Dell’s efforts prove worthwhile and stand as a source of encouragement to every computer manufacturer worldwide to offer similar free global consumer recycling programs.

Taken from: Information Week

Reuse…Save up to 90% off list price and save the environment too when you shop at UsedCisco.com

By Joshua Levitt
E-Commerce Sales and Marketing Manager for UsedCisco.com

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The new GreenPower drives from Western Digital are dropping power consumption by up to 38 percent. This power savings equates to reducing CO2 emission by up to 13.8 kilograms per drive per year - the equivalent of taking a car off the road for 3 days each year. For large organizations with hundreds of employees, this translates to big bucks in energy cost savings. This is yet another example of a product which can not only save the environment but save your pocketbook as well.

“It’s always been more about speed, never about doing what we’ve been doing with less power,” admits Deffenbaugh , director of product marketing for desktop drives at Western Digital.

To lower power in the overall drive, Western Digital started to tune back on some parameters. Those parameters include adjusting the rotational speed, using bigger data buffers, parking the drive’s head, and optimizing how the drive seeks and caches data.

The company has addressed this power rduction technology in five ways:
1. IntelliPower™ - A fine-tuned balance of spin speed, transfer rate and cache size designed to deliver both significant power savings and solid performance.
2. IntelliSeek™ - Calculates optimum seek speeds to lower power consumption, noise and vibration.
3. IntelliPark™ - Delivers lower power consumption by automatically unloading the heads during idle to reduce aerodynamic drag.
4. Perpendicular Magnetic Recording (PMR) - Employ PMR technology to achieve even greater areal density.
5. StableTrac™ - The motor shaft is secured at both ends to reduce system-induced vibration and stabilize platters for accurate tracking, during read and write operations. (750 GB and 1 TB only)

All of these changes have led to other benefits, too: The new Caviar GP drives are less noisy than previous models, shaving 5 decibels from the noise level. And operating temperature has been lowered as well.

The first Caviar GP drives will show up inside Western Digital’s own external drives. Announced today, the 2TB My Book dual-drive models–My Book World Edition II, My Book Pro Edition II, My Book Premium Edition II–will feature the 1TB Caviar GP inside. Internal Caviar GP drives will ship in the second or third week of August.

Pricing will be in line with what you expect from a standard drive. Says Deffenbaugh, “The strategy on the Caviar GP is to use the line for [growing] market share, not for enhanced profitability.”

Taken from: PCWorld

Reuse…Save up to 90% off list price and save the environment too when you shop at UsedCisco.com

By Joshua Levitt
E-Commerce Sales and Marketing Manager for UsedCisco.com

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