In a recent newsletter, we began a discussion of the 'Green IT' movement, and, in that newsletter, we concentrated primarily on the economics. And while the discussion there concentrated on a single equipment component, there also are arguments that in some cases, having a multifunction device as opposed to multiple-point devices can significantly reduce the overall power consumption.

This is an interesting twist on the argument for multipurpose devices. For instance, we’ve often looked at the tradeoffs between having a single “best of breed” device as opposed to multiple devices in terms of overall performance, single vs. multiple points of failure, as well as a number of other areas. In this case, Cisco (at least) makes the case that using an integrated device can also result in power efficiency and therefore be “greener.”

For instance, in Cisco’s paper, “Cisco ASR 1000 Series Aggregation Services Routers: Achieving Energy Efficiency through Service Integration,” (PDF) Cisco argues that integrated equipment “can be an important component in helping you achieve your overall environmental objectives. By consolidating the capabilities of multiple single-function devices and allowing you to instantly turn on new services, the Cisco ASR 1000 Series Router provides an energy-efficient and long-lasting deployment alternative. This approach offers you direct benefits, such as reduced rack space, power, and cooling requirements. In addition, it facilitates many secondary benefits, including the ability to reduce employee travel and training costs.”

This, of course, contributes to “Green IT” from a socially conscious perspective, with the major focus being to reduce the carbon footprint of the company by using more efficient equipment.

But do companies really care about their “carbon footprint”? We’d love to have your input, and next time we’ll also share the results that we heard in some recent research.

Steve Taylor is president of Distributed Networking Associates and publisher/editor-in-chief of Webtorials. Jim Metzler is vice president of Ashton, Metzler & Associates.