D-Link DGS-1008D

We recently got our hands on a DGS-1008D, one of the D-Link Green Ethernet series hubs to find out if it lives up to its color.

The DGS-1008D is an 8 port 10/100/1000 hub for use at home or office.

According to D-Link, the new series aims to provide three benefits :

- Reduces power consumption & creates less heat
- Extended product life
- Reduces Operating Costs

I don’t know what all that’s supposed to mean, but if it saves me money and creates less CO2 in the long run, I like it.

Fortunately for us, the D-Link site explains furthur what all this means, and how.

Power Savings by Number of Connected Ports and Link Status

Computers do not require Internet access all the time; neither do switches utilize all ports at all times. When a computer or network equipment is shutdown, switches often remain on and continue to consume considerable amount of power. With Green Ethernet technology, D-Link switches can automatically detect link status and reduce power usage of ports that are idle. Computers or any connecting parties set to standby mode (not power off), however, will not provide significant power savings.

Testing

We first tested our DGS-1008D with no network cables connected.

True to their word, the hub registered ZERO watts, which means that it uses less than 10 milliwatts.

We then tested it connected to our main network switch, but no computers connected and surprisingly it STILL register ZERO watts!

We then connected a computer to the hub and the meter now jumped to real numbers at 7 watts. Very reasonable.

We then connected 6 more systems and the power increased only half a watt.

According to D-Link, the unit should vary in power consumption based on how many connections and the length of the cables. So we also tryed a 20 meter cable, however no noticable increase was measured.

Now that does sound good, but how does that compare to other hubs?

Well, we just happen to have one of the ORIGINAL SERIES DGS-1008D hubs on hand! So we ran it threw the same series of tests.

And here is a comparison of the 2 units:

Well it’s clear, this is a smart little hub. It watches if the cables are connected to active devices, and if there are none, or just one device active, it goes into power saving mode at just a few milliwatts!

Conclusion

The D-Link DGS-1008D is the beginning of much smarter electronics that only use what they need. This is especially a smart purchase for homes where computers would regularly be turned off during the day. For offices, this will save power if users shut down their computers at night and for the weekend. Sure it’s only 7 watts, but add that up to the 20 odd devices that only use 7 or 10 watts and it makes a real difference.

Bravo D-Link !