ENERGY STAR Program Requirements for Large Network Equipment, Version 1.1 (incl. Test Method Rev. Jan-2016)

Overview

The document contains the ENERGY STAR partner commitments, the Version 1.1 eligibility criteria and the bundled test method (Rev. Jan-2016). Large network equipment (LNE) is network equipment mountable in a standard rack, supporting management protocols such as SNMP, with more than eleven physical network ports or aggregate port throughput above 12 Gb/s. Routers and switches are in scope; products with more than four ports of 100 Gb/s or higher, small network equipment, servers, storage and storage-networking products, security appliances, access point controllers, DSLAM/CMTS, network caching and load-balancing devices are excluded.

Power supplies are tested to the Generalized Internal Power Supply Efficiency Test Protocol Rev. 6.7. Single-output PSUs must reach 80/88/92/88% at 10/20/50/100% load and multi-output PSUs 85/88/85% at 20/50/100%. AC-DC PSU power factor is required at output of 75 W or more: multi-output 0.80/0.90/0.95 (20/50/100%); single-output up to 500 W the same values, 500-1,000 W with 0.65 added at 10% load, and above 1,000 W 0.80/0.90/0.90/0.95 (10/20/50/100%). Below 75 W power factor is only measured and reported.

Feature requirements must be enabled in the as-shipped configuration: remote administration of individual physical ports, adaptive active cooling on primary components (for example variable fan speed at lower ambient temperature; passive-cooled devices excluded) and compliance of all copper-based physical ports with IEEE 802.3 Clause 78 (Energy Efficient Ethernet, EEE). There is no numeric active-state efficiency floor; full power and performance must be measured and reported so EPA can evaluate them when setting Version 2.0 levels. Modular products are tested with a fully populated chassis and heterogeneous module configurations are allowed.

Telemetry: LNE products with nameplate power above 250 W must measure and report input power at product level (within +/-5% of actual above 200 W; at 200 W or less, within 10 W times the number of installed PSUs) and inlet air temperature (within +/-2 C, optional sampling). Data must be readable by third-party, non-proprietary management systems over a standard network connection, via a packaged service processor, embedded meter or iPDU. Input power is sampled at least every 10 seconds, timestamped environmental data at least every 30 seconds. Manufacturers may test with a half-port or full-port configuration.

The test method sets ambient at the airflow inlet above 22.0 C and below 28.0 C and relative humidity of 15-80%; the power meter needs 1% or better accuracy, at least 80.0 kHz bandwidth and 40.0 kHz sample rate. Traffic is IPv4 in the Simple IMIX distribution (40, 576 and 1500 byte IP packets). In the full-port test the maximum non-drop load Lmax is found first, then average power is measured for 15 minutes each at full load, 30% load and very low utilization (VLU = Lmax x 10 to the power -4); the half-port test uses 10% load as the middle point. Version 1.1 took effect on 1 March 2016.

Key points

1. LNE is rack-mountable, manageable network equipment with more than 11 physical ports or aggregate throughput above 12 Gb/s.
2. Excluded: products with more than four 100 Gb/s ports, small network equipment, servers, storage and storage networking, security appliances, AP controllers, DSLAM/CMTS, caching and load balancing.
3. PSU efficiency: single-output 80/88/92/88% (10/20/50/100% load), multi-output 85/88/85% (20/50/100%).
4. AC-DC PSU power factor is required at 75 W or more of output; for example single-output above 1,000 W needs 0.80/0.90/0.90/0.95 at 10/20/50/100% load.
5. All copper-based physical ports must comply with IEEE 802.3 Clause 78 (Energy Efficient Ethernet).
6. Remote port administration and adaptive active cooling must be enabled as shipped.
7. There is no numeric active-state floor; full power and performance are measured and reported for EPA's Version 2.0 evaluation.
8. Products above 250 W nameplate must report input power (+/-5% above 200 W) and inlet air temperature (+/-2 C); input power is sampled at least every 10 seconds.
9. Test ambient is 22.0-28.0 C and 15-80% RH; traffic is Simple IMIX; the VLU load is Lmax x 10 to the power -4 for 15 minutes.
10. Version 1.1 took effect on 1 March 2016; modular products are tested with a fully populated chassis.

Using it in design

• Network catalogue items (ToR and spine switches) should store ENERGY STAR status, PSU efficiency points and measured power at idle, VLU, 30% and maximum load so rack heat loads reflect real utilization.
• Flag copper switches without EEE in efficiency checks.
• Use the reported inlet-temperature capability as a DCIM integration attribute, and check input-power reporting on devices above 250 W nameplate.
• Record that test conditions were 22-28 C and specific load points (30% or 10%, VLU) and add a note when the design inlet temperature is higher.
• Use the PSU power-factor requirement (especially for PSUs above 1,000 W) as an input to UPS and distribution loading.

Who should read it

Designers who select rack switches and routers or add network equipment to energy models, manufacturers and certification specialists.

Document contents

1. Partner Commitments
2. Definitions
3. Scope
4. Certification Criteria
5. Power Supply Requirements
6. Energy Efficiency Feature Requirements
7. Active State Efficiency Criteria for all LNE Products
8. Standard Information Reporting Requirements
9. Standard Performance Data Measurement and Output Requirements
10. Testing
11. Effective Date
12. Considerations for Future Revisions
13. Test Method (Rev. Jan-2016)
14. Test Setup
15. Test Conduct
16. Test Procedure for All Products Except Modular Products
17. Test Procedure for Modular Products

Related standards

• IEEE 802.3az
• ATIS-0600015.03
• EPRI Generalized Internal Power Supply Efficiency Test Protocol Rev. 6.7

Read the document

Publication details

Authors

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Publisher

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (ENERGY STAR)

Year

2016

Document number

ENERGY STAR LNE V1.1

Document language

English

Source type

Government / public

Access

Open licence — downloadable

Licence

U.S. public domain — U.S. Government work; free to reuse

Licence evidence

www.copyright.gov

Citation