{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T01:33:41Z","timestamp":1760060021100,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":24,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,25]],"date-time":"2025-07-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1753401600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Network"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The widespread adoption of cloud computing has amplified the demand for electric power. It is strategically important to address the limitations of reliable sources and sustainability of power. Research and investment in data centres and power infrastructure are therefore critically important for our digital economy. A novel heuristic for the minimisation of energy consumption in cloud computing is presented. It draws similarities to the concept of \u201cnetwork slices\u201d, in which an orchestrator enables multiplexing to reduce the network \u201cchurn\u201d often associated with significant losses of energy consumption. The novel network slicing\u2013ring fencing ratio is a heuristic calculated through an iterative procedure for the reduction in cloud energy consumption. Simulation results show how the non-convex equation optimises power by reducing energy from 10,680 kJ to 912 kJ, which is a 91.46% efficiency gain. In comparison, the Heuristic AUGMENT Non-Convex algorithm (HA-NC, by Hossain and Ansari) reported a 312.74% increase in energy consumption from 2464 kJ to 10,168 kJ, while the Priority Selection Offloading algorithm (PSO, by Anajemba et al.) also reported a 150% increase in energy consumption, from 10,738 kJ to 26,845 kJ. The proposed network slicing\u2013ring fencing ratio is seen to successfully balance energy consumption and computing performance. We therefore think the novel approach could be of interest to network architects and cloud operators.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/network5030027","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,25]],"date-time":"2025-07-25T14:40:02Z","timestamp":1753454402000},"page":"27","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["A Novel Cloud Energy Consumption Heuristic Based on a Network Slicing\u2013Ring Fencing Ratio"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"5","author":[{"given":"Vinay Sriram","family":"Iyer","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Computing, National College of Ireland, Mayor Square, D01 K6W2 Dublin, Ireland"}]},{"given":"Yasantha","family":"Samarawickrama","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Computer Science, Munster Technological University, Rossa Ave, Bishopstown, T12 P928 Cork, Ireland"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5296-670X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giovani","family":"Estrada","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Computing, National College of Ireland, Mayor Square, D01 K6W2 Dublin, Ireland"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Avgerinou, M., Bertoldi, P., and Castellazzi, L. 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