Energy Efficient Ethernet
Overview
Energy Efficient Ethernet (EEE), defined in the IEEE 802.3az standard, is a set of enhancements to the traditional Ethernet networking standard designed to reduce power consumption during periods of low data activity. The objective of EEE is to save energy without sacrificing compatibility with existing equipment and networks.
Traditional Ethernet devices are designed to be always active, maintaining a constant link and ready to transmit data at any moment. This results in unnecessary energy usage when the network is idle or when data transmission is infrequent. EEE addresses this by allowing physical layer devices (PHYs) to enter a low-power idle (LPI) state during periods of low data activity.
Requirements and limitations
- EEE is supported on all cloud-managed Catalyst switches running CS17 or higher.
- EEE is not supported on SFP interfaces.
- Changing the EEE configuration bounces the interface as the switch port must restart the Auto negotiation process.
- EEE must be enabled on both the switch port and client in order for EEE to negotiate successfully.
Configuration
EEE can be configured through the dashboard or API. To configure EEE via the dashboard, go to Switching > Switch ports
EEE can be configured by using the /devices/{serial}/switch/ports API endpoint and setting the enabled parameter inside the dot3az object. EEE is disabled by default.
Monitoring
EEE can be monitored in the Status section under the ports page.
EEE states
When EEE is not activated, the status is considered to be disabled.
Upon configuration of EEE, it can result in one of two statuses:
| Operational | This status indicates that both the switch port and the remote device have successfully completed the negotiation process. |
| Disagreed | This status is assigned when the remote device either lacks EEE support or does not have EEE enabled. |