NTT Communications Develops SDN OAM

NTT Communications announced the development of a basic operations, administration and maintenance (OAM) function for software-defined networking (SDN) on multiple wide area networks (WAN). The new SDN OAM functions enable end-to-end network connection quality to be visualized on multiple WAN using link trace and loopback tests.

The new technology visualizes network topology by automatically collecting connection information on physical networks configuring SDN. It enables SDN operation and maintenance personnel to remotely monitor circuits and isolate problems and test circuits more accurately by verifying network connection quality and normality of link trace in end-to-end areas, even in WAN.

Key capabilities

• Visualization of physical network topology: Visualizes the types of machines used in end-to-end networks.
• SDN connectivity test: Identifies the end-to-end segment where trouble is occurring.
• SDN link trace test: Tests for end-to-end continuity when establishing circuits or changing circuit paths.
• SDN loopback test: Tests for loopback continuity when establishing circuits or changing circuit paths.

A demonstration of various verification tests for network normality using NTT Com's SDN OAM function technology will be conducted at Okinawa Open Days 2015, which will be held at Okinawaken Shichoson Jichikaikan in Okinawa, Japan from December 14 to 18.

NTT Com said it is now working to commercialize the technology for various environments involving SDN, including big data processing, high-quality broadcasting networks, enterprise global intranets, etc..

http://www.ntt.com/aboutus_e/news/data/20151214_2.html

Japan's O3 Project Announces First Milestones for Multi-Carrier, Multi-Layer SDN

Sunday, March 09, 2014  #SDN, Japan, NTT  No comments

Japan's "Open Innovation over Network Platforms" research and development (R&D) project, also known as the "O3 Project", announced the first milestones in its development of multi-carrier, multi-layer SDN, including the development of a database of expressions for integrating the optical layer of the network with packet layer.

The O3 project is supported by Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and includes the participation of Fujitsu, Hitachi, NEC, NTT Communications and NTT.
More: http://www.convergedigest.com/2014/03/japans-o3-project-announces-first.html

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F5's CEO Steps Down Following An Issue of Personal Conduct

F5 Networks announced that Manuel Rivelo has resigned from his position of President and Chief Executive Officer, and as a member of the F5 Board of Directors, for matters regarding personal conduct unrelated to the operations or financials of the company.

John McAdam, Chairman of the F5 Board of Directors, has been appointed President and CEO until a permanent replacement is found. McAdam will remain a member of the F5 Board but will step down as Chairman in order to focus on his executive duties and actively lead the company forward. Alan Higginson, who currently serves as F5’s Lead Independent Director, has been appointed Non-Executive Chairman of the Board.

“I want to thank Manny for his many contributions to F5 over the past four years. Manny has been a key member of F5’s strong leadership team who have developed our current strategy,” stated John McAdam.

https://f5.com/

F5 Names Manny Rivelo as New CEO

Wednesday, April 22, 2015  F5, People  No comments

F5 Networks appointed Manny Rivelo as its new President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of F5’s Board of Directors effective July 1, 2015. He succeeds longtime CEO, John McAdam, who will become Chairman of the Board of Directors upon his retirement on July 1st. Al Higginson, who has been on the F5 Board of Directors since 1996, and has served as Board Chairman since 2004, will remain on F5’s Board as Lead Independent Director.

Previously, Rivelo served as F5’s Executive Vice President of Strategic Solutions. Before joining F5 in October 2011, Rivelo was Senior Vice President of Engineering Systems and Operations for Cisco Systems.  He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in Electrical Engineering from the Stevens Institute of Technology. https://f5.com/

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Marvell Intros 100GbE Gearbox Transceive for 4x25G

Marvell introduced a fully integrated, 100 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) Gearbox with Multilink Gearbox (MLG) functionality. The MLG functionality aligns with OIF MLG 2.0 specifications, enabling aggregation of 10 independent streams of 10Gbps Ethernet or two independent streams of 40Gbps Ethernet to be multiplexed onto a 4x25Gbps stream.

The new Marvell Alaska C 88X5111 transceiver enables 100 Gbps full duplex transmission and performs all physical layer functions required for a variety of media, including single mode and multimode optical modules, copper backplanes, and passive and active copper direct attach cables. The 88X5111 line interface is fully compliant with IEEE 802.3BJ and supports the Reed Solomon Forward Error Correction (RS-FEC) function required for 100G-CR4, 100G-KR4 and 100G-SR4 operation, as well as auto-negotiation and coefficient training protocol required by IEEE 802.3 standards. The 88X5111 currently is sampling to Marvell’s global customers and will be sold as a standalone PHY, as well as with Marvell switches.

Key features:

• Long reach line Serializer/Deserializer (SerDes) capable of compensating an Insertion Loss of up to 30dB without FEC
• Integrated Reed-Solomon FEC capable of driving 100G-CR4 cables, 100G-KR4 backplanes and 100G-SR4 optical modules
• MLG 2.0 Gearboxing functionality enabling aggregation of 10 independent 10GbE streams or two independent 40GbE streams to a 4x25G pipe
• Integrated IEEE auto-negotiation and training protocol enabling seamless interoperability with IEEE-compliant devices from other vendors
• Fully autonomous equalizer adaptation

“The 88X5111 further exemplifies Marvell’s commitment to delivering a robust portfolio of solutions for next generation data centers and enterprise networks with comprehensive features, increased integration, and reduced power consumption,” said Michael Zimmerman, Vice President and General Manager, Connectivity, Storage and Infrastructure (CSI) Business Unit at Marvell. “As the latest addition to our Alaska C family, the 88X5111 is unique in its support for all 100GbE media types – 100G-LR4 and SR4 optics, 100G-KR4 backplanes, and 100G-CR4 passive copper cables, giving flexibility in deployment that is critical to the end user. In addition, the Multilink Gearbox functionality integrated into the 88X5111 enables next generation switch ASICs with 25G/s I/Os to support 10GbE and 40GbE ports in a power- and cost-efficient manner.”

The device is manufactured with 28 nanometer lithography in a 17mm x17mm package footprint.

http://www.marvell.com/transceivers

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Facebook Launches Innovation Challenge for Africa

Facebook is taking its Internet.org Innovation Challenge to Africa the aim of recognizing developers and entrepreneurs who are using the Internet to improve the standard of education and economic health in their communities. Developers across Africa are invited to enter the challenge.

Facebook will present an Innovation Challenge Award of US $150,000 to the app, website or service judged to be the best in two categories: learning/education and economic empowerment. Each Innovation Challenge Award winner will also receive a package of tools and services worth up to $60,000 from Facebook’s FbStart program. Two apps, websites or services in each category will receive an Impact Award prize in the amount of $50,000.

All entries must be received by May 1, 2016.

“The Internet.org Innovation Challenge in Africa supports our vision of a connected world by recognizing those who are working on solutions that aim to improve education and economic health of communities in Africa,” says Ime Archibong, director of strategic partnerships at Facebook. “We’re looking forward to seeing how African developers are providing real value for their communities. By connecting people and empowering them with access to services and information, we can help them achieve extraordinary things and help them to enhance their lives.”

https://info.internet.org/en/story/innovation-challenge

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U.S. Department of Defense Approves Mellanox 10/40 Gig Ethernet Switches

The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) has approved the Mellanox SwitchX series of 10/40 Gigabit Ethernet switches for use on U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) networks. This move comes as a direct result of the DISA awarding Mellanox Federal Systems the Unified Capabilities Approved Product List (UC APL) certification for the Mellanox SwitchX series of Ethernet switches.

“Federal agencies of the U.S. government, specifically the Department of Defense, require the most advanced and high-performance networking solutions available,” said Dale D’Alessio, CEO of Mellanox Federal Systems. “These solutions must also adhere to the strictest security requirements to ensure data protection and guarantee that their system is up and running at all times. The UC APL certification is the latest confirmation that Mellanox has become the leading provider of the world’s fastest and most flexible Ethernet interconnect solutions that can be trusted by federal agencies to deliver unrivaled security and accelerated performance for their data centers.”

This UC APL certification is mandatory for all switch hardware to be sold for use on DoD programs of record and is testimony to the rapidly expanding success of Mellanox’s Ethernet switches being approved for use on large DoD tactical programs. The certification ensures that Mellanox Ethernet hardware can be utilized for the production system of the DoD network and also grants the hardware recognition from additional federal agencies and foreign governments.

http://www.mellanox.com

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Cloudyn Raises $11 Million for Hybrid Cloud Monitoring

Cloudyn, a start-up based in Israel, raised $11 million in Series B funding for its hybrid, multi-cloud monitoring and optimization solutions.

Cloudyn's SaaS solution delivers insights into usage, performance and cost, coupled with actionable recommendations for optimizing performance and streamlining clouds for growth. The company said its tools help businesses select the right mix of cloud vendors (AWS, MS Azure, Google Cloud Platform and OpenStack), and enables "SmartSizing" of their cloud resources for maximum operational performance and control.

Currently monitoring more than 200,000 virtual machines and over 12,000 concurrent applications, Cloudyn will use the proceeds to further its market share and brand, as well as continue advancing first-to-market solutions to ensure customer delight.

The funding was led by Carmel Ventures, a member of the Viola Group, with participation of previous investors, Titanium Investments and RDSeed [a collaboration of Rafael and Elron Electronics (ELRNF)]. The company also announced that Ronen Nir, General Partner at Carmel, will join its Board of Directors.

“Cloudyn has been at the forefront of cloud monitoring and optimization for public and more recently, private cloud,” said Sharon Wagner, CEO of Cloudyn. “We have a superb team, disruptive technology, an ongoing commitment to product innovation, and it’s getting noticed,” he noted. “The funding will allow us to build on this momentum and increase our market share in North America and global markets.”

https://www.cloudyn.com

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CellMining Raises $5 Million

CellMining, a start-up based in Israel, raised $5 million in Series A funding for its Self-Organizing Networks (SON) and subscriber network experience solutions.

CellMining's Behavior-Based SON solution analyzes the subscriber network experience in a unique way, identifying usage patterns to optimize network performance based on Customer Experience Management (CEM) metrics. This goes far beyond the capabilities of existing SON technologies, which offer mobile network operators (MNO) only limited ability to understand, measure and improve their subscriber experience. This disruptive technology aligns with a shift in the SON solution roadmap predicted by SNS Research in a recent report, which stated that implementations will start to focus towards optimizing end user experience by dynamically adjusting the network based on QoE (Quality of Experience) and QoS (Quality of Service) related information derived from the user.

The funding round was led by Lazarus Israel Opportunities Fund.

"No other company provides this depth of SON and CEM integration into a single platform, which delivers intelligent network optimization powered by subscriber experience analytics," said Greg Snipper, CEO of CellMining. "This investment acknowledges the rapidly-growing demand for CellMining's solutions, and will enable us to continue building the world's most advanced CEM-based SON technologies based on big data analytics. In the months ahead, we plan to significantly expand our operations in terms of both the technology and our market reach."

http://www.cellmining.com

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BT's Openreach Uses ADVA FSP 150 for 10G EAD Service

BT's Openreach infrastructure division has deployed the ADVA FSP 150CC-XG210 as the foundation of its new, point-to-point 10 Gbps Ethernet Access Direct (EAD) service.

The new service is expected to cost a little more than twice the price of the current 1 Gbps service.

ADVA said its FSP 150 delivers strict service level assurance for carrier and enterprise applications through its extensive quality of service management.

“EAD 10G is going to bring substantial benefits to a great number of UK enterprises and we’re proud to have played such a big part in helping Openreach take this exciting leap forward,” said Sarah Mendham, sales director, ADVA Optical Networking.

http://www.advaoptical.com

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