A system for controlling power consumption of a network includes at least one terminal to receive a plurality of requests to route data from a plurality of data sources to a plurality of data sinks, where the data sources and the data sinks are connected to each other through a plurality of network nodes forming the network, and a network configuration unit. The network configuration unit includes a selection module configured to select a configuration of the network nodes that allows the network to have a lowest overall power consumption of the network among a plurality of configurations of the network, and an output module configured to output a plurality of instruction signals to the network nodes to perform the network configuration. A network path for transmitting a network flow is selected that does not allow the network flow to be split and flow through another network path.