Switch Opens its Massive Data Center in Michigan

Switch, which runs the SUPERNAP data centers in Nevada, officially opened the first Phase of the 1.8 million-square-foot data center campus in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The iconic building, which is an adaptive reuse of the Steelcase Pyramid, is the center piece of what is intended to become the largest, most advanced data center campus in the eastern U.S.. The entire campus is powered by 100-percent green energy.

“Rob Roy’s vision has turned one of the most iconic buildings in the country into the foundation of what we believe will be the most advanced technology ecosystem campus in the eastern U.S.,” said Switch Executive Vice President for Strategy Adam Kramer.  “Since the announcement of Switch’s expansion into Michigan, the state has been attracting the tech world’s attention, defining the region and the state as an epicenter for technology that runs the internet of absolutely everything.”

https://www.switch.com/switch-grand-rapids-now-open-largest-advanced-data-center-campus-eastern-u-s/

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Openreach to become Separate Company from BT

BT and UK regulator Ofcom announced that they have reached agreement on a long-term regulatory settlement based on voluntary commitments submitted by BT that address Ofcom's competition concerns through which Openreach will become a distinct, legally separate company with its own board within the BT Group.

Once implemented, the agreement stipulates that:

1. Approximately 32,000 employees will transfer to the new Openreach Limited, following TUPE consultation, and once pension arrangements are in place.

2. Openreach will manage and operate its assets and trading, but ownership of the assets and trading will remain with BT.

3. The new Openreach will have its own branding that will not feature the BT logo.

4. The Openreach CEO will report to the Openreach chairman, with accountability to the BT Group chief executive with regards to certain legal and fiduciary duties consistent with BT's responsibilities as a listed company.

5. Openreach, which builds and maintains the millions of copper and fibre access lines from telephone exchanges to homes and businesses and currently delivers fibre connections to around 26 million premises, will gain greater independence under its own board of directors.

The agreement, once implemented, is designed to provide BT and other companies with greater regulatory clarity and certainty and to encourage investment. The new agreement builds on recent changes made by BT relating to the governance of Openreach, which include the creation of an Openreach board with a majority of independent members.

The new Openreach board will define the businesses medium term and annual operating plans and determine which technologies are deployed within line a strategic and financial framework defined by BT. Openreach will be free to explore alternative co-investment models with third parties.

BT stated that implementation of the agreement is subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions, including the drawing up of new legislation relating to the BT pension scheme. In addition, formal approval of the agreement is required by the BT board.

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IDC: Worldwide Ethernet Switch Market up in Q4

The worldwide Ethernet switch market (Layer 2/3) recorded $6.7 billion in revenue in the fourth quarter of 2016 (4Q16), an increase of 3.5% year over year, according to  the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Ethernet Switch Tracker and Worldwide Quarterly Router Tracker.

Some highlights from IDC:

• For the full year 2016, the market recorded $24.4 billion in revenue, for a full year growth rate of 2.4%. 
• The worldwide total enterprise and service provider (SP) router market recorded $3.87 billion in revenue in 4Q16, increasing 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. 
• For the full year 2016, this market finished at $14.58 billion, an increase of 1.3% over 2015. These growth rates are according to results published in
• 10Gb Ethernet switch (Layer 2/3) revenue increased 3.4% year over year in 4Q16, coming in at $2.42 billion, while 10Gb Ethernet switch port shipments grew 18.9% year over year with over 11.7 million ports shipped in 4Q16. For the full year 2016, 10Gb Ethernet revenues increased 1.5% over 2015, with port shipments increasing 19.4%. '
• 40Gb Ethernet revenue came in at $696.6 million in 4Q16, the same as in 4Q15, while port shipments fell just below 1.4 million, representing a decrease of 1.0% year over year. For the full year 2016, 40Gb Ethernet revenues grew 19.6% over 2015, with shipments increasing by 59.0%. 
• The worldwide enterprise and service provider router market grew 1.5% on a year-over-year basis in 4Q16 based on a 2.0% increase in the larger service provider segment and a 0.3% decrease in enterprise routing. For the full year, the combined market increased 1.3%, upon a 0.9% increase in the SP segment and 2.4% growth in the enterprise segment. 

"As the Ethernet switching market reaches a greater level of maturity from 1GbE to 10GbE, it is increasingly characterized by customers moving more quickly to higher speeds at lower port costs, especially in the datacenter," said Rohit Mehra, vice president, Network Infrastructure at IDC. "While overall port shipments continue to grow, it is the revenues from the fastest speeds that continue to buoy the market."

http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS42335017

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ECI introduces Layer 1 optical encryption as-a-service solution supporting 200 Gbit/s

ECI, a global provider of Elastic Network solutions for service providers, critical infrastructure and data centre operators, has announced the introduction of its first optical encryption as-a-service solution, which supports per-service encryption at rates up to 100 Gbit/s and line rates of up to 200 Gbit/s.

The new ECI optical encryption service is designed to meet interoperability, scalability and flexibility requirements and targets service providers, the financial sector, medical and government institutions. The company noted that optical encryption provides no information about underlying services to a potential hacker, introduces minimal latency and can be used to encrypt any type of service.

ECI's solution offers encryption on a per-service basis at up to 200 Gbit/s, which is claimed to make it one of the fastest encryption solutions available. The solution also enables service providers and other institutions to offer Layer 1 encryption as-a-service. The new offering expands ECI's security portfolio for service providers that was launched earlier in 2017.

ECI noted that its encryption method is certified FIPS 140-2 Security Level 2. Additionally, the Layer 1 encryption can be delivered as an alien lambda over other optical networks, thereby providing a more flexible and economical solution.

In February, ECI announced enhancements to its LightSEC cyber security solution that enable service providers to utilise their infrastructure to deliver managed security services to customers, in addition to consolidating their security and connectivity operations. The NFV-based cybersecurity suite LightSEC, featuring technology from partner Check Point Software Technologies, was launched in 2014.

Also in February this year, ECI introduced LightCARE, a proactive network maintenance app, to its LightAPPS family of applications. LightCARE continuously and proactively monitors the health of the network and is designed to pre-empt potential failures and ensure network reliability.

http://www.ecitele.com

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Centec enhances 10 GBE whitebox switch solution with support for Microsoft SONiC

Centec Networks of Suzhou, China, a supplier of IP/Ethernet switching silicon and whitebox solutions for SDN, announced it has extended the open-networking operating system options for its 10 Gigabit Ethernet whitebox switch solution via support for Microsoft's Software for Open Networking in the Cloud (SONiC) collection of open-sourced software networking components.

The latest integration is based on the Open Compute Project (OCP) Switch Abstraction Interface (SAI), which is designed to allow network infrastructure providers to select the best combination of hardware and software for their specific requirements.

The first product to be introduced incorporating SONiC, which was launched in 2016, with Centec's switching silicon is the ExSwitch6400 series whitebox solution from ODM partner EmbedWay. The platform features Centec's Golden Gate CTC8096 switch chip and utilises SONiC to enable network operators to share the software stack across hardware from multiple switch vendors.

Centec's ExSwitch6400 series is a typical top of rack (ToR) switch that uses its Golden Gate switch chip and supports up to 48 x 10 Gigabit Ethernet downlinks with 40 Gigabit Ethernet and native 100 Gigabit Ethernet (4 x 25 Gbit/s) uplink interfaces. The solution offers support for OCP hardware design guidelines, including Open Network Install Environment (ONIE) to allow applications with ODM and other bare metal switches.

The Golden Gate silicon is designed to enable low latency and power performance for the ExSwitch6400 whitebox solution, and the switch can be optionally extended with an Intel CPU card for applications such as network functions virtualisation (NFV), hyper-convergence and security appliance applications.

Centec announced in November 2016 that it had partnered with EmbedWay, a provider of intelligent infrastructure products and solutions, to introduce the ExSwitch6400 series 10 Gigabit Ethernet SDN whitebox solution, 10/40 Gigabit Ethernet open-networking platform offering native 100 Gigabit Ethernet (4 x 25 Gbit/s SerDes) uplinks.

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Alaska Comm Extends with Quintillion Subsea Cable

Alaska Communications announced that leveraging Anchorage-based infrastructure company Quintillion's new submarine optical cable it is bringing new services to Alaska's northernmost communities, including Utqiaġvik (formerly known as Barrow), Nome, Kotzebue, Point Hope and Wainwright.

Through the project, corporations, government agencies, healthcare and education institutions in the northwest region of Alaska will gain access to reliable high-speed broadband and managed IT services for the first time.

Quintillion's infrastructure will enable the provision of commercial high-speed connectivity in areas where previously only costly microwave and satellite communications were available from a single provider. The new fibre network will support lower cost, high-speed access to the communities in northwest Alaska.

Alaska Communications, the leading broadband and managed IT services provider in the state, noted that when the new network becomes available later in 2017 it will act as a reseller to select telecom carriers, as well as serving business customers using the expanded network. In addition, as part of the agreement Quintillion will purchase capacity services for its new terrestrial system linking the oil fields of the North Slope on Alaska Communications' fibre network from Fairbanks to the U.S.

Alaska Communications noted that it first partnered with Quintillion in 2015 when it acquired a fibre network from ConocoPhillips in the part of Alaska's North Slope where most recent oil and gas exploration is occurring. The new agreement allows Alaska Communications to connect the original fibre to its existing network via Quintillion's new terrestrial network, providing redundancy and extending broadband and managed IT services to more oil and gas companies on the North Slope.

Quintillion is aiming to deliver affordable, carrier-class broadband services in Alaska, and with partners is specifically seeking to develop Alaska's middle-mile capabilities via the construction of new cable systems.

In May 2016 Quintillion announced it had acquired the assets of Arctic Fibre as part of a plan to build a submarine fibre optic cable from Asia to Europe, with the first phase in Alaska. Arctic Fibre is planning to deploy a Europe-Asia submarine cable system linking Nome to Prudhoe Bay in Alaska, Nome to Tokyo, Japan and form Prudhoe Bay to England, with additional spurs to Arctic Canada.

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