The idea
Not all connected switches are doing meaningful work. In many organizations, network devices stay powered on long after their actual usage ends. A switch that’s been up and running for 90 days — but hasn’t moved a single packet — isn’t providing redundancy. It’s silently draining power, space, and budget.
The challenge? These devices are rarely flagged by traditional monitoring systems because they’re technically “on” and responsive. But if a switch isn’t forwarding traffic, it’s not fulfilling any operational role.
Why it matters
Many IT teams operate with a “just in case” mindset when it comes to network infrastructure. The result: dozens (or hundreds) of switches sitting idle, consuming electricity day and night. This is especially common in decentralized environments — like education, retail, or regional offices — where equipment is often left untouched for months.
These “ghost devices” can represent 5–15% of your total energy footprint, depending on network size. And they create a false sense of infrastructure capacity — appearing as part of your assets, but contributing no value.
In short: they cost energy, create operational noise, and hide inefficiencies.
What you can do
- Conduct a traffic audit: don’t just check if a switch is on — check if it’s doing anything.
- Focus on actual data throughput, not just link or port status.
- Flag switches with sustained zero or near-zero traffic over time (e.g., 7+ days).
- Set safe shutdown rules for non-critical zones, or underused segments.
- Maintain a list of known spare or cold standby switches separately to avoid confusion.
Bonus tip
If a complete shutdown isn’t feasible (due to compliance or fallback requirements), consider alternatives:
- Use low-power or sleep modes if supported by the hardware.
- Disable ports selectively instead of powering off the whole switch.
- Reduce the number of active interfaces to the minimum required.
How ZeroNet helps
ZeroNet continuously monitors device behavior across your infrastructure. It identifies switches that show no meaningful traffic, even if they’re technically online. By learning traffic patterns over time, it suggests safe time windows for shutdown, helping your team take action without risk — and without needing to manually audit every corner of the network.