Session Date/Time: 24 Jul 2024 20:00

green

Summary

This BOF (Birds of a Feather) session explored the formation of a new IETF working group focused on energy-efficient networking. The discussion covered operator needs, power consumption in network devices, existing energy management frameworks, and a draft charter proposal. The session concluded with strong support for the formation of the working group.

Key Discussion Points

Operator Needs: Operators are facing increasing energy consumption and regulatory pressure. They need granular data, common definitions of energy efficiency, and control mechanisms like elastic power consumption and advanced sleep modes.
Power Consumption Analysis: NPUs (Network Processing Units) are the dominant power consumers in high-end routers and line cards. Traffic load significantly affects power usage.
Existing Frameworks (E-MAN): The E-MAN working group produced RFCs related to energy management using MIBs. While not widely adopted, some concepts may still be applicable. E-MAN's focus was on monitoring and control of power states for IP-based network equipment (routers, switches, PCs). A key element of E-MAN was the introduction of UUIDs at the entity level which may have relevance for YANG modelling.
YANG Data Models: Using YANG data models for energy efficiency management is seen as a promising approach, offering good support for network management automation.
Charter Proposal: The draft charter focuses on defining energy efficiency metrics, developing YANG models for measuring, reporting, and controlling energy usage, and creating a framework for collecting and using energy consumption metrics.
Scope Considerations: There was discussion on what items should be considered out of scope for the working group. A tight initial scope (focusing on basic energy measurement and control) was favored by many.
Impact on Service Quality and Security: Some raised the potential negative impact of energy saving measures on network service quality and the security of energy control implementations.
Industry Metrics: It was suggested to adopt industry standard energy efficiency metrics to avoid inventing new units.
Life Cycle Assessment: Including the lifecycle assessment of network devices in the scope was suggested, potentially referencing lifecycle phases of material phases, the production phase, the use operation phase, and the end of life.
Vendor Involvement: It was pointed out that successful implementation of energy effiency solutions depends on vendors to provide unified units and systems.

Decisions and Action Items

Decision: There is strong support to form a new IETF working group on energy-efficient networking.
Action Item: The proponents will refine the draft charter based on the BOF discussion and submit it to the IESG (Internet Engineering Steering Group) for approval.
Action Item: Dean Bogdanović will provide a draft discussing current industry units of energy metrics.

Next Steps

Detailed discussions and charter refinements will continue on the working group mailing list.
The proponents will work with the Area Director (AD) to finalize the charter and secure its approval.