NETGEAR® Smart Switch Earns Miercom “Certified Green”

High-Performance SMB Networking Switches Among Most Energy-Efficient According to In-Stat Research Report

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – NETGEAR, Inc. (NASDAQGM: NTGR) today anounced its ProSafe™ 48-port Gigabit Smart Switch (GS748T) for small to medium-sized business networking was awarded “Certified Green” status by Miercom, a consultancy specializing in networking and communications-related product testing and analysis. NETGEAR’s innovative and energy-efficient 24- and 48-port switches also earned the company a top-three ranking among numerous competitors in independent research firm In-Stat’s recent study, “Green Networking Equipment: Who Leads and Who Lags.”

Said Vivek Pathela, NETGEAR’s vice president of product marketing, “We’re very proud that recent tests by Miercom and analysis by In-Stat have recognized our 24- and 48-port Gigabit Smart Switches for their distinctive energy efficiencies. Products from several vendors were put under the looking glass, and to be acknowledged as a leader in this area says volumes about our parallel dedication to achieve industry-leading switch performance and value, as well as environmental responsibility. We design our SMB networking products with intelligent power-saving capabilities at the top of our priority list, and we are committed to continue leading in this important arena.”

Recent testing by Miercom evaluated over a dozen switches for power consumption. NETGEAR’s ProSafe 48-port Gigabit Smart Switch was one of the few switches that consumed 90 watts or less at full utilization of all ports. According to Miercom calculations, this lower consumption produces a reduction in heat dissipation, which in turn helps reduce data center cooling loads and associated energy costs. More information on Miercom’s certification process can be found at www.miercom.com.

“We were pleased to find that the NETGEAR GS748T used even less energy than its specifications stated,” said Miercom CEO Robert Smithers. “During our lab test of the device, we observed it drew only 75 watts at maximum capacity when the vendor rated the product at 90 watts. The low power use was one of the reasons we awarded the GS748T our new Green Certification. Its Web-based remote management alerting capability and virtualization features also contributed to its overall efficiency rating.”

Additionally, NETGEAR earned a top-three ranking among thirteen competing networking vendors in a study published by In-Stat titled, “Green Networking Equipment: Who Leads and Who Lags” (#IN0804265LS), which addressed the energy efficiencies of Gigabit Ethernet, fixed and managed Layer 2 and 3 switches. While In-Stat concluded that fixed-configuration 24- and 48-port switches vary by more than 600% in terms of switching capacity and respective electrical power usage — as noted by Network World Magazine — NETGEAR’s ProSafe 48-port Gigabit Smart Switch (GS748T) and 24-port Gigabit Smart Switch (GS724T) were among the select few products lauded for both high performance and power efficiency. More information on the report can be found at www.instat.com.

“We were happy to see NETGEAR fare so well in our recent energy efficiency comparison, as the company is an important player in the LAN switch market,” stated Scott Scherer, research analyst at In-Stat. “We view green issues as the IT industry’s biggest challenge, and companies like NETGEAR that have adopted environmentally responsible practices early have significant opportunities to develop competitive advantage in their respective markets.”

NETGEAR’s ProSafe 24- and 48-port Gigabit switches are part of NETGEAR’s growing family of Smart Switches that include no-cost management and maximum bandwidth and density — providing industry-leading overall value. With 24 or 48 10/100/1000 Mbps ports, each capable of powering 2000 Mbps of data throughput in full-duplex mode, plus four optional fiber ports, NETGEAR’s switches provide a 96 Gbps backbone. Four hot-swappable Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP) slots provide optional fiber connectivity for greater distance. Advanced features include performance monitoring, security, port configuration, VLAN for traffic control, port trunking for increased bandwidth, and Class of Service (CoS) for traffic prioritization. NETGEAR’s switches are specifically designed to consume less power for the entire networking ecosystem, which is essential for SMBs looking to reduce the total cost of ownership.