Verizon designates AWS as its Preferred Public Cloud Provider

Verizon Communications has designated Amazon Web Services (AWS) as its preferred public cloud provider as part of a corporate-wide initiative to increase agility and reduce costs through the use of cloud computing.

Verizon is migrating over 1,000 business-critical applications and database backend systems to AWS, several of which also include the migration of production databases to Amazon Aurora—AWS’s relational database engine. Verizon is also building AWS-specific training facilities, called “dojos,” where its employees can quickly ramp up on AWS technologies and learn how to innovate with speed and at scale.

The companies noted that Verizon first started working with AWS in 2015. This latest wave of migrations to AWS accelerates Verizon's digital transformation.

"We are making the public cloud a core part of our digital transformation, upgrading our database management approach to replace our proprietary solutions with Amazon Aurora," said Mahmoud El-Assir, Senior Vice President of Global Technology Services at Verizon. “The agility we’ve gained by moving to the world’s leading public cloud has helped us better serve our customers. Working with AWS complements our focus on efficiency, speed, and innovation within our engineering culture, and has enabled us to quickly deliver the best, most efficient customer experiences."

“We look forward to continuing our work with Verizon as their preferred public cloud provider, helping them to continually transform their business and innovate on behalf of their customers. The combination of Verizon’s team of builders with AWS’s extensive portfolio of cloud services and expertise means that Verizon’s options for delighting their customers is virtually unlimited,” stated Mike Clayville, Vice President, Worldwide Commercial Sales at AWS.

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NEC and Google test subsea modulation using probabilistic shaping

NEC and Google have tested probabilistic shaping techniques to adjust the modulation of optical transmission across the 11,000-km FASTER subsea cable linking the U.S. and Japan.

The companies have demonstrated that the FASTER open subsea cable can be upgraded to a spectral efficiency of 6 bits per second per hertz (b/s/Hz) in an 11,000km segment -- representing a capacity of more than 26 Tbps in the C-band, which is over 2.5X the capacity originally planned for the cable, for no additional wet plant capital expenditure. The achievement represents a spectral efficiency-distance product record of 66,102 b/s/Hz.

The field trial was performed with live traffic on neighboring channels.

The companies said their test used near-Shannon probabilistic-shaping at a modulation of 64QAM, and for the first time on a live cable, artificial intelligence (AI) was used to analyze data for the purpose of nonlinearity compensation (NLC). NEC developed an NLC algorithm based on data-driven deep neural networks (DNN) to accurately and efficiently estimate the signal nonlinearity.

"Other approaches to NLC have attempted to solve the nonlinear Schrodinger equation, which requires the use of very complex algorithms," said NEC's Mr. Toru Kawauchi, General Manager, Submarine Network Division. "This approach sets aside those deterministic models of nonlinear propagation, in favor of a low-complexity black-box model of the fiber, generated by machine learning algorithms. The results demonstrate both an improvement in transmission performance and a reduction in implementation complexity. Furthermore, since the black-box model is built up from live transmission data, it does not require advance knowledge of the cable parameters. This allows the model to be used on any cable without prior modeling or characterization, which shows the potential application of AI technology to open subsea cable systems, on which terminal equipment from multiple vendors may be readily installed."

Transpacific FASTER Cable Enters Service with 60 Tbps Capacity

Wednesday, June 29, 2016  Google, Submarine Cable, Undersea  No Comments

The world's highest capacity undersea cable system has entered commercial service -- six fiber pairs capable of delivering 60 Terabits per second (Tbps) of bandwidth across the Pacific.

FASTER is a 9,000km trans-Pacific cable connecting Oregon and two landing sites in Japan (Chiba and Mie prefectures). The system has extended connections to major hubs on the West Coast of the U.S. covering Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Portland and Seattle. The design features extremely low-loss fiber, without a dispersion compensation section, and the latest digital signal processing technology.

Google will have sole access to a dedicated fiber pair. This enables Google to carry 10 Tbps of traffic (100 wavelengths at 100 Gbps). In addition to greater capacity, the FASTER Cable System brings much needed diversity to East Asia, writes Alan Chin-Lun Cheung, Google Submarine Networking Infrastructure.

Construction of the system was announced in August 2014 by the FASTER consortium, consisting of China Mobile International, China Telecom Global, Global Transit, Google, KDDI and Singtel.

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ADVA intros virtualized encryption for the cloud

ADVA Optical Networking introduced its ConnectGuard Cloud technology for delivering virtualized encryption in hybrid and multi-cloud environments. The software is positioned as an alternative to costly and inflexible IPSec-focused appliances.

ADVA's ConnectGuard provides military-grade encryption and can be deployed on any COTS server or in a public cloud infrastructure. ConnectGuard Cloud is powered by Senetas' transport-independent encryption engine that supports dynamic software encryption at multiple layers, enabling customers to apply encryption based on the needs of the application and the type of networking available at remote sites.

ADVA's Ensemble Connector's zero touch provisioning capabilities enables roll out of secure cloud connectivity to thousands of endpoints within minutes. The company said ConnectGuard is currently in multiple trials with enterprises and service providers across the globe.   

"The security of our customers' data is something we've focused on for over two decades. Our team is intent on making sure that their data is safe wherever it is in the network," said Christoph Glingener, CTO, COO, ADVA. "That's why today marks a breakthrough. We've expanded our ConnectGuard(TM) security platform from protecting optical transport and Ethernet traffic to now safeguarding the cloud. With our ConnectGuard(TM) suite, we're securing data across Layers 1, 2, 3 and 4. This is something that no one else in the industry can offer. More than this, when customers use ConnectGuard(TM) Cloud, they benefit from all the unique capabilities of Ensemble Connector. With this solution, we can help customers safely migrate their applications to the cloud and we can even support a multi-cloud deployment model. This is a major step forward."

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HPE to acquire Plexxi for hyperconverged switching

HPE agreed to acquire Plexxi, a developer of software-defined data fabric networking technology. Financial terms were not disclosed.

HPE said it intends to integrate Plexxi technology into its own hyperconverged solutions, where Plexxi will build on HPE's acquisition of SimpliVity last year.

Plexxi, which was founded in 2010 and is based in Nashua, NH, is a provider of Hyperconverged Networking (HCN) solutions. The company said its strength is in combining software-defined topologies and intent-based automation with workload and infrastructure awareness. Its portfolio includes:

• PLEXXI CONNECT -- an event-based workflow automation platform for data centers. It drives the Plexxi fabric.
• PLEXXI CONTROL -- workload-driven network fabric orchestration software for enterprise data centers. It offers full network management and visualization
• PLEXXI SWITCHES -- a line of high-density 10/25/40/50/100GBE access switches offering up to 3.2 Tbps switching capacity in a 1 RU box.

Plexxi is headed by Rich Napolitano (CEO), who previously was head of EMC’s Unified Storage Division. Prior to EMC, Rich led both sales and engineering, and acted as both founder and venture capitalist across companies like Sun Microsystems, Pirus Networks, and Alchemy Angels. Plexxi was founded by Dave Husak (CTO) and co-founded by Mat Mathews (VP of Product Management).

• In January 2016, Plexxi disclosed a strategic investment from GV (formerly Google Ventures). Other Plexxi investors have included Lightspeed Venture Partners, Matrix Partners and North Bridge Venture Partners.

HPE to Acquire SimpliVity for Hyperconverged Infrastructure Products

Tuesday, January 17, 2017  HPE, Mergers And Acquisitions  1 Comment

Hewlett Packard Enterprise agreed to acquire SimpliVity, a start-up offering software-defined, hyperconverged infrastructure, for $650 million in cash.

SimpliVity, which is privately held, was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Westborough, MA. The company’s software-defined, hyperconverged infrastructure is designed from the ground up to meet the needs of enterprise customers who require on-premises technology infrastructure with enterprise-class performance, data protection, and resiliency, at cloud economics.

HPE said the SimpliVity portfolio enables it offer a rich set of enterprise data services across hyperconverged, 3PAR storage, composable infrastructure and multi-cloud offerings.

“This transaction expands HPE’s software-defined capability and fits squarely within our strategy to make Hybrid IT simple for customers,” said Meg Whitman, President and CEO, Hewlett Packard Enterprise.  “More and more customers are looking for solutions that bring them secure, highly resilient, on-premises infrastructure at cloud economics.  That’s exactly where we’re focused.”

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Ciena supplies GeoMesh Extreme submarine solution for Black Sea cable

Caucasus Online, a major telecommunications carrier formed in 2006 by the merger of four Georgian ISPs (Caucasus Network, Georgia Online, SaNet and Telenet) is deploying Ciena’s GeoMesh Extreme submarine solution with high-density 100G transponders to enhance its Black Sea fibre optic network. Caucasus Online owns a 1,200 kilometer submarine fibre-optic cable across the Black Sea constructed by Tyco Electronics (today known as TE Subcom).

The upgrade will boost the data transfer capacity of the subsea network up to 5 Tbps while integrating multi-protocol and low-latency capabilities. Ciena's integration partner on the project is NUTS:iX.

As the sole owner of the Black Sea submarine cable, Caucasus Online provides critical services in regional communications, acting as a major gateway for internet traffic from Europe to South Caucasus and the Caspian region.

Ciena said its network management system enables Caucasus Online to manage mission-critical functions of its network such as inventory management and wavelength provisioning that span across access, metro, and core domains, with visibility through protocol layers such as WDM, OTN and packet services.

“As operators across the globe continue to see increasing demand for high-bandwidth applications, programmable infrastructure such as Ciena’s 6500 Packet-Optical platform and WaveLogic coherent optics enable our customers to create better cost structures and agility, laying the foundation for more adaptive networks that can truly address required changes to their network,” stated Daniel Prokop, Director of Central Europe, Channels, Ciena.

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GlobeNet implements Ciena's GeoMesh with 6500 Packet-Optical Platform

GlobeNet, a wholesale provider of telecom infrastructure in the Americas, is implementing Ciena’s GeoMesh Extreme solution, including the 6500 Packet-Optical Platform powered by WaveLogic Ai coherent optics, to deliver 200G wavelengths along its 23,500 km fiber optic subsea cable system across the Americas.

Ciena’s solution is configured with a Packet/OTN architecture, ensuring multi-site connectivity with 200G wavelengths to handle data growth. Ciena said this added resiliency against fault scenarios provides service assurance for GlobeNet to protect the large amount of capacity carried by WaveLogic Ai. Additionally, Ciena’s Blue Planet Manage, Control, Plan (MCP) software improves network visibility through real-time software control.

“This deployment is a testament to our experience interconnecting the world with open submarine networks through a combination of flexible network solutions and support team. This resilient, cost-effective solution will provide GlobeNet with the highest capacity available, along with the ability to scale and create a more adaptive network,” stated Ian Clarke, Vice President, Global Submarine Systems, Ciena.

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Sigfox presents a multisensory IoT solution

Sigfox launched an end-to-end commercial IoT solution combining a multisensor device, a prebuilt application, and Sigfox connectivity. The device comes with 6 different sensors (thermometer, hygrometer, light meter, accelerometer, magnetometer, reed switch) and a central button for multiple use cases.

The device works in any of the 45 countries where the Sigfox has coverage and can be configured to communicate in multiple regions without need of any local network. Battery life can last up to 1-year depending on use and frequency of messages.

 Sigfox is a French company founded in 2009 that builds wireless networks to connect low-power objects such as electricity meters, industrial sensors, etc. Sigfox uses a unique technology for extreme energy efficiency in the remote sensor and which remains compatible with Bluetooth, GPS 2G/3G/4G, and WiFi. Over the years, Sigfox has expanded its network to over 45 countries. It now claims to serve around 803 million people, with the ambition of extending the network across 60 countries and regions and reaching 1 billion people in 2018. At Mobile World Congress, Telxius and Sigfox announced a deal to expand the Sigfox network in Germany to cover more than 80 percent of the country. This entails the deployment of Sigfox equipment on a number of the 2,350 telecom towers that Telxius acquired from Telefónica Germany in early 2016. In addition, Sigfox can utilize further selected antenna locations of Telefónica Germany for further expansion of its network. To reach complete network coverage across Germany requires only about 2,500 Sigfox base stations. Previously, Sigfox Germany has acquired masts and roofs for its base stations directly. Working with Telxius, enables Sigfox to accelerate the rollout of its network as it will no longer have to negotiate directly with property owners. If the Sigfox partnership in Germany is successful, Telxius certainly offers telecom masts in all of its other market for supporting a global IoT network.

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