Juniper Networks And Ixia Announce Telecom Energy Efficiency Metric

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Juniper Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: JNPR), the leader in high-performance networking, and Ixia (NASDAQ: XXIA), a leading, global provider of IP performance test systems, today announced the formation of the Energy Consumption Rating (ECR) Initiative – a framework for measuring the energy efficiency of network and telecom devices. In an event hosted by Ixia, key definitions and methodology of the ECR initiative will be unveiled to the public, alongside a live technology demonstration.

In response to the increasing requirement from service providers, enterprise businesses and government agencies for better methods to estimate, project and regulate energy efficiency of telecom and network equipment, Juniper Networks, Ixia and Lawrence Berkeley National Labs collaborated to develop a vendor-neutral energy efficiency metric.

The ECR metric creates a common energy denominator between different network and telecom systems operating within a single class. The ECR methodology defines the procedures and conditions for measurements and calculations, and can be readily implemented with industry-standard test equipment.

The introduction of the ECR initiative for the measurement of telecom energy efficiency will be held at Ixia's iSimCity proof-of-concept lab in Santa Clara, Calif. The event will feature guests from the U.S. EPA and telecom experts and the use of the ECR specification in the measurement of telecom energy efficiency. One of the industry's most energy efficient core routers, the Juniper Networks T1600, will be the featured system under test at the event.

During the live demonstration, ECR readings will be taken in the multi-vendor environment consisting of Ixia's IxGreen™ platform and Emerson's NetSure 701 DC power system. During the test, IxGreen will operate as the control point for fully integrated measurements and comprehensive reports with time-correlated energy and external load analysis. Real-time ECR "performance-per-energy unit" graphs and statistics accurately demonstrated energy consumption in reference to offered load. The Juniper Networks T1600 is expected to achieve an ECR value of 9.1 Watts/Gbps.

"Reducing the energy use of information technology has been a cooperative effort between industry and the public sector," said Bruce Nordman, Research at Lawrence Berkeley National Labs. "Our work with the ECR initiative brings this partnership to network and telecom equipment. Standard test procedures are necessary for good public policy in this area and needed to recognize new efficient technologies and products."

Solid Foundation for National and International Standards

The ECR draft specification 1.02 establishes a framework for classifying network equipment and a methodology for measuring energy efficiency. The final "performance-per-energy unit" rating, expressed in (watts) / (Gigabit per second) can be reported as a peak (scalar) or synthetic (weighted) metric that takes dynamic energy management capabilities into account. The ECR framework and methodology is vendor-neutral and can be easily adapted to upcoming energy-related ICT standards and legislations. With growing interest from national and international standard bodies to lower operational expenses and the environmental footprint of networking, the ECR offers a turnkey solution for reporting, measuring and regulating energy efficiency of network components.

"In addition to fostering the ECR Initiative, Ixia has built a test application that implements ECR methodologies and metrics within a fully automated, highly accurate and repeatable platform: IxGreen," said Vic Alston, senior vice president of product development at Ixia. "IxGreen, in conjunction with Ixia's platform and test application, provides stateful device load and correlates traffic throughput to energy consumption."

"The ECR Initiative is an important step toward making energy efficiency ratings for telecommunications a reality," said Opher Kahane, senior vice president and general manager, High End Systems Business Unit, Juniper Networks. "Our service provider customers are focused on energy efficiency for maximum operational savings, service quality, reliability and the environmental impact of their networks, and our products are designed to help them meet these objectives."

About the ECR Initiative

The ECR is an open initiative that welcomes participants and users from network equipment manufacturers, government agencies, carriers, and enterprises. It is immediately applicable to establish the relative energy efficiency of network components produced by different manufacturers within a solid, unified and vendor-neutral test methodology. The ECR specification and additional details are available at the ECR Initiative's web site. The specification is free to the public and unlocks the potential of the minimum-resource network design, where the energy footprint is reduced in parallel with meeting and exceeding the operational objectives.

About LBNL

Berkeley Lab is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory located in Berkeley, California. It conducts unclassified scientific research and is managed by the University of California. Visit our website at http://www.lbl.gov.

About Juniper Networks

Juniper Networks, Inc. is the leader in high-performance networking. Juniper offers a high-performance network infrastructure that creates a responsive and trusted environment for accelerating the deployment of services and applications over a single network. This fuels high-performance businesses. Additional information can be found at www.juniper.net.

About Ixia

Ixia is a leading provider of IP service verification platforms and performance test systems for IP-based infrastructure and services. Ixia's test systems are used by network and telephony equipment manufacturers, semiconductor manufacturers, service providers, governments and enterprises to validate the performance and reliability of complex IP networks, devices, and applications. Ixia's multiplay test systems address the growing need to test voice, video, and data services and network capability under real-world conditions. For more information, visit http://www.ixiacom.com.

Ixia, and the Ixia four-petal logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Ixia. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

This material is for informational purposes only and subject to change without notice. It describes Ixia's present plans to develop and make available to its customers certain products, features and capabilities. Ixia is only obligated to provide those deliverables specifically included in a written agreement between Ixia and the customer.

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