We all know about the latest and greatest server, workstation, and laptop technology out there to help reduce the amount of electrical juice needed to run each device. Well now there’s a new way to help reduce your company’s carbon footprint… buy “Green” network devices.

Even though the number of workstations and servers in a traditional corporate network out number the amount of network devices, each of these routers, switches, etc account for 40% -60% of the total energy consumption per server rack. The main reason has to do with power management built into each device and the level of hardware sophistication.

Fortunately, new technology is emerging to help reduce the amount of energy being consumed by our server needs:

1. Energy Efficient Ethernet: Arriving in 2011 many new devices will soon be carrying the “EEE” standard which will help reduce energy use by 90%. Traditionally network devices transmit data regardless if data needs to be transmitted. With the EEE standard, if a request is not made to transfer data the device will shut down until it is called upon.

2. Virtual NICs: Instead of having a Network Interface Card within the server, the server will access a bank of rank mountable NICs. This will allow for dedicated software to control data transfers and power management, allowing for more control over power and performance usage.

Like other consumer electronics, network devices will soon be tagged with a energy efficiency rating to inform the consumer how energy efficient the device will be. As the standards become stricter, more and more manufacturers will invest more into creating the most efficient device possible.

Until then, here’s a great list of 5 tips you can use now to improve the energy efficiency of your network (thanks to ComputerWorld.com):

1. Refresh your equipment. Cisco estimates that its new equipment gains 15% to 20% in energy efficiency every two to three years. The energy savings alone aren’t enough to justify replacement, but it’s a good reason to keep your refreshes on schedule.

2. Make use of energy-efficient features. These features can vary by vendor — or even by model — so check before you buy. For example, Cisco’s Nexus 7000 switch can reduce power consumption in empty line-card slots, but that feature is not yet available in the vendor’s more popular Catalyst 6500 series. Other vendors, such as HP, allow you to turn off empty slots, but the process is a manual one. Juniper Networks lets administrators cut power to unused ports, but only by writing a script that lowers the power once a certain activity threshold is reached.

3. Virtualize. Server virtualization increases network utilization and reduces network equipment needs by allowing multiple virtual servers to share one or more network adapters within the confines of a single physical server. On the switch side, features such as Cisco’s Virtual Switching System allow one switch to function like many, which means more than one server can connect to the same port. This works because most organizations overprovision switching capacity based on peak loads. Reducing the total number of physical ports required lowers overall power consumption. Similarly, HP’s Virtual Connect technology abstracts HP server blades from Ethernet and Fibre Channel networks. It requires fewer network interface cards, reduces cabling requirements and increases network utilization.

4. Be careful with cabinets. Make sure networking equipment that goes into a hot aisle/cold aisle row uses front-to-back airflow, not side-to-side cooling. Vendors prefer side-to-side venting, which allows them to get more equipment into the rack, but units using a side-to-side design may blow hot air back into the cold aisle — or directly into an adjacent rack — and overheat it. If the vendor doesn’t offer switching equipment that supports front-to-back airflows, you’ll need to retrofit the cabinet with a conversion kit, available from vendors such as Panduit and Chatsworth, which redirects it for use in a hot aisle/cold aisle configuration.

5. Use a structured network design. Your best bet for the greatest energy efficiency is to follow the Telecommunications Industry Association’s TIA-942 Telecom Infrastructure Standard for Data Centers, says Rockwell Bonecutter, global lead of Accenture’s green IT practice. The specification locates networking equipment in a main distribution area, which ultimately connects to servers, storage and other IT equipment in individual racks.