Three and a half years in the past, after we began designing the Cisco C9350 community good swap, sustainability wasn’t an afterthought; it was constructed into our engineering choices from day one. At Cisco, we have now made Round Design Rules elementary to how we innovate, and the C9350 is an ideal instance of what’s potential when sustainability and cutting-edge expertise work hand in hand.
5 methods we designed the C9350 for circularity
1. Modular design for reuse and effectivity
Look contained in the C9350 and also you’ll see one thing completely different from our older switches within the Catalyst 9000 household: much more items, all by design. The central processing unit (CPU) sits on a separate card that can be utilized throughout your entire product household and even in future merchandise. We’ve standardized energy provide type elements to share them throughout completely different product strains. This modular method means fewer distinctive components, easier provide chains, and elements that may reside a number of lives.
We went a step additional, and optimized every module individually, utilizing completely different printed circuit board (PCB) layer counts for every design to cut back materials utilization and price. Due to advances in high-bandwidth cable expertise, we have been in a position to do all this with out including expense to the system.
2. Smarter cooling with out plastic waste
Previously, we used plastic air baffles to steer airflow over sizzling elements. These plastic items made up 60 to 70% of plastic utilization in these switches. Within the C9350, they’re gone. As a substitute, we strategically positioned elements to naturally route air the place it must stream. We additionally labored with suppliers to develop followers which might be 23% extra environment friendly, utilizing much less vitality whereas operating quieter. Since followers can eat 10 to fifteen% of complete energy throughout regular operation, and as much as 30% at excessive temperatures, this makes an actual distinction. Plus, the handles and gaskets are constructed from post-consumer recycled plastic.
3. Clever energy administration
The C9350 options three energy provide slots as a substitute of the normal two, and all energy provides are rated a minimum of 80 Plus Platinum, with Titanium choices accessible. However {hardware} effectivity is barely a part of the story. We developed Cisco Chilly Redundancy, which deliberately drops the voltage on standby energy provides, so lively ones function of their best 40 to 70% load vary. In stacked configurations, our auto-offline function manages as much as 12 energy provides throughout 4 techniques, mechanically taking extras offline whereas maintaining them able to spin up immediately if wanted. These software-driven optimizations keep away from losing energy throughout regular operation.
4. Materials discount
Our Catalyst switches used to have a flowery plastic bezel on the entrance for aesthetics. However the C9350 is steel all the best way to the sting, and I believe it nonetheless appears nice. We eliminated 15 to 19% of the steel weight from the highest cowl, decreasing thickness from 0.9mm to 0.8mm, whereas sustaining the identical structural integrity and passing our rigorous 200g drop shock assessments.
5. Packaging reimagined
We eradicated foam from the C9350 packaging. The 48-port 10-Gig mannequin ships with a minimal 80% recycled fiber-based cushion whereas the 1-Gig fashions ship with thermoformed endcaps utilizing recycled plastic resin. This initially price us extra per field, and we ship one million models per yr, so it might add up. However being all-in on round design means making investments to drive your entire provider ecosystem ahead. And the excellent news is we’re already seeing prices method neutrality because the trade scales these options.
The C9350 proves that sustainability and innovation aren’t competing priorities—they’re complementary ones. Once you design for circularity from the beginning, you don’t simply construct higher merchandise for the planet. You construct higher merchandise, interval.
Be taught extra about Round Design at Cisco.
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