From the 'if you can't measure it, it's not true' files:

Green IT and power saving has been a hot topic ever since the inconvenient truth of our planet's global warming crisis hit the mass media. Sure there are a lot of vendors that have green initiatives but how do you actually measure how green you are?

IP performance test vendor Ixia (Nasdaq:XXIA) is announcing a new solution at Interop (that I just got demo'ed by their President and CEO Atul Bhatnagar) that may be the answer.

In a nutshell the IxGreen solution (which is still a proof of concept) accurately measures how much power a given piece of network equipment uses. The solution will load traffic and applications in a testing environment that shows precisely how different applications and loads affect network power usage.

Bhatnagar explained to me that with IxGreen you can measure the eco-efficiency of a switch. The solution will also help network administrators to determine how to operate in an a optimal manner.

It's a great idea in my opinion and one that is needed.  We know that different loads take different power requirements but if you can't measure it, you can't improve it can you?