MEF18: CenturyLink's Andrew Dugan on Network Transformation

 What does network transformation mean to CenturyLink?

Andrew Dugan, SVP Technology Planning & Network Architecture, CenturyLink says it is vital to understand that customers are undergoing transformations of their own. Enterprise applications are getting distributed into multiple clouds. Some workloads stay in private data centers and others are moved into hybrid or public clouds. Carriers, like CenturyLink, must provide networking services that are equally as dynamic as the service offered by cloud providers.

CenturyLink is developing products that allow for dynamic service creation. This allows for new connections to be set-up, capacity to be scaled, and VLANs to be controlled.

Another area of interest is MEF's LSO (lifecycle service orchestration) APIs for enabling dynamic services across carriers to public clouds. CenturyLink is heavily supporting MEF's efforts in this area.

https://youtu.be/l3vMQiM7Apo

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MEF18: CenturyLink's Adam Saenger on Enterprise Transformation

Enterprise transformation is a big part of ongoing work at MEF, says Adam Saenger, Vice President of Networking Solutions at CenturyLink.

Enterprises are increasingly using software-defined networking to power hybrid clouds. CenturyLink is working hard on the orchestration of these functions so that customers can move "at the speed of enterprises" and not at the speed of telecom.

CenturyLink first introduced dynamic capacity in its network seven years ago. Over the past 12 months, it has added capabilities such as dynamic VLAN management spanning into cloud environments. Most recently, CenturyLink announced global availability of SD-WAN, and dynamic connections on demand to cloud resources.

https://youtu.be/4SUrDRPhhkg

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MEF18: Sparkle's Daniele Mancuso on Network Transformation

There are a few big takeaways from the MEF18 event in Los Angeles, says Daniele Mancuso, Executive VP ICT Engineering, Sparkle.

First, it is clear that MEF is playing a transformational role in the industry not only in standardization but also leapfrogging innovations.

Second, SD-WAN is the candidate technology to bring us to the future. A new generation of enterprise services will ride SD-WAN.

Third, MEF is doing a great job with the development of Cantata and Sonata APIs.

Fourth, network cloudification is hot trend, especially driven by containerized workloads.

Fifth, artificial intelligence and machine learning will take us to the next step on intent-based networking.

The future is bright. Keep on following us!

https://youtu.be/83eXO1hBNjE

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MEF18: Josh Goodell on AT&T's edge-to-edge vision

AT&T was back at MEF's annual event once again to share its vision of network transformation, this time presenting its edge-to-edge vision. This transformation is really about looking at customer networking needs holistically, says Josh Goodell, Vice President, Edge Solutions, AT&T.

AT&T has seen strong momentum this year for services powered by its SDN and NFV platforms, with over 28,000 end points currently deployed. MEF's work to standardize SD-WAN services will further strengthen the market.

2019 will bring more network transformation. 5G will be transformative, enabling a whole new set of use cases, and these hopefully will be incorporated in the MEF framework going forward.

https://youtu.be/031XtpIdFzU

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MEF18: Executing on the MEF 3.0 Framework

One year ago, MEF 3.0 set out a bold framework for carrier network transformation. Over the past 12 months, the MEF community has really executed on this vision, says Pascal Menezes, Chief Technology Officer, MEF.

This execution includes innovations at layer 1 optical transport, layer 2 Carrier Ethernet services, and automated, managed access E-Line services. Additional, MEF is working on IP service overlays. MEF has also just delivered draft specifications for SD-WAN services.

https://youtu.be/UgBBu53Oou0

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MEF18: Networking specs at the speed of software

This week, MEF released its Sonata LSO (Lifecycle Service Orchestration) API in both specification form and as a sofware development kit (SDK). Most people have no idea how big a deal this really is, says Dan Pitt, Senior Vice President, MEF.

This means that the specification is not final. It won't be final under the SDK has generated feedback from developers. The notion that MEF can issue specifications that are not perfect, but open to improvements through iteration, is quite powerful. This is standards development at the speed of software. Think of it as the industry's first DevOps approach to standards development.

https://youtu.be/pEuR1W4TkoQ

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Broadcom samples first 7nm 400G PAM-4 PHY

Broadcom began sampling its 7nm 400G PAM-4 PHY device for hyperscale data center and cloud infrastructure.

The BCM87400 device, which leverages Broadcom’s 7nm Centenario 112G PAM-4 DSP platform, provides 400G 8:4 gearbox performance.

Broadcom says its 7nm 400G PHY solution delivers significant power savings compared to existing 16nm PHYs, thereby enabling sub-8W optical modules, compared to 12W power dissipation current generations 16nm PHYs.

7nm Centenario PAM-4 DSP Highlights

• Industry leading DSP performance and power efficiency enabling DR4/FR4 optical modules to meet IEEE standards and MSA specifications
• DSP platform supporting DR/FR optical modules for legacy switch applications
• Client-side interface compliance to CEI-28G/56G LR specification supporting long reach (LR) channels
• IEEE 802.3bs standard-compliant KP4 and end-to-end FEC bypass operation
• Proven PAM-4 architecture supporting multiple optics front ends including EML, DML and silicon photonics
• Optimized design with proven interoperability with Broadcom switch ASICs and ASSPs using 28Gbaud PAM-4 and NRZ SerDes architecture

“With the general availability of 12.8-Tb/s switches such as Broadcom’s Tomahawk 3, hyper-scale data center operators and cloud providers will be leveraging the 400GbE ports in these switches to address increasing demand for higher bandwidth. Our low power 7nm Centenario PAM-4 DSP is essential to support high density 400G connectivity using QSFP-DD and OSFP optical modules, accelerating the adoption of 400GbE network infrastructure,” said Lorenzo Longo, senior vice president and general manager of the Physical Layer Products Division at Broadcom. “The currently available 16nm 400G PHYs have been used to enable engineering prototypes and testing of 100G per lambda optical components. Our 7nm Centenario 400G PHY enables high volume deployment of 400G optical modules in hyper-scale data centers.”

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Optech intro 400G QSFP-DD SR8 Optical Transceiver

Taiwan-based Optech introduced a 400GBase QSFP-DD SR8 transceiver that supports connections of up to 100 meters over multi-mode fiber and uses MPO connectors.

Key specs:

• 8 channels 850nm VCSEL transmitter
• Reach distance up to 70 meters with OM3
• Reach distance up to 100 meters with OM4
• MPO Connector
• Power Consumption 9.0W
• Single 3.3V power supply
• Temperature range: 0 to 70°C
• Compliant with the QSFP-DD MSA

The 400G QSFP-DD SR8 transceiver supports different configurations (50G/100G/200G) and is also offers backward compatibility with the 100G QSFP28 SR4 and 40G QSFP+ SR.

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Interxion's European data centres at 79% utilisation after big expansion

Interxion, which operates more than 50 data centres in 11 European countries, cited growing demand from major cloud and content platforms as the key driver for its business in Q3 2018.
The company serves over 700 connectivity providers, 21 European Internet exchanges, and most leading cloud and digital media platforms across its footprint,

Interxion reported that its data centre utilisation rate, which is the ratio of revenue-generating space to equipped space, was 79% at the end of the third quarter of 2018, compared with 82% at the end of the third quarter of 2017 and 80% at the end of the second quarter of 2018.

Although the utilisation rate is slightly lower than a year ago, the completed major expansions of its facilities over the past year. Equipped space at the end of the third quarter of 2018 was 140,300 square metres, compared with 118,900 square metres at the end of the third quarter of 20176 and 132,600 square metres at the end of the second quarter of 2018.

“Growing demand from the major cloud and content platforms for Interxion’s highly-connected data centres is driving strong bookings and steady revenue growth,” said David Ruberg, Interxion’s Chief Executive Officer. “The underlying demand drivers are secular in nature and, accordingly, we have enhanced our balance sheet and expanded capacity in key markets to meet this demand.”

During the third quarter, Interxion completed the following capacity additions:

• 3,300 sqm expansion across two data centres in Amsterdam;
• 2,400 sqm expansion across two data centres in Frankfurt, including the opening of FRA13;
• 600 sqm expansion in Marseille;
• 1,200 sqm expansion in Vienna; and
• 200 sqm expansion in Zurich.

Interxion's revenue in the third quarter of 2018 was €142.2 million, a 14% increase over the third quarter of 2017 and a 2% increase over the second quarter of 2018. Recurring revenue was €134.8 million, a 15% increase over the third quarter of 2017. Net income was €10.9 million in the third quarter of 2018, a 16% increase over the third quarter of 2017

• In August, Interxion announced dedicated access to Google Cloud Platform (GCP) across its European footprint through Cloud Connect, Interxion’s multi-cloud interconnection platform. With Google Cloud deploying its Cloud Interconnect points of presence (PoPs) in Interxion’s Paris Marseille, Frankfurt and Stockholm data centres, customers can now directly connect to Google Cloud Platform from these locations. Moreover, because Interxion is a partner of Google Cloud’s newly launched Partner Interconnect service, customers can also connect from any of Interxion’s data centres across Europe via Cloud Connect. Customers using this service benefit from fully redundant, instant access to GCP from multiple metropolitan areas, ensuring a 99.99% availability SLA without the complexity and costs of having to build a networking solution themselves. 
•  Interxion’s Cloud Connect already provides connectivity to Microsoft Azure, AWS, Oracle Cloud and IBM Cloud.

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Equinix sees interconnection revenue growth outpacing colocation growth

Equinix reported that interconnection revenues growth continued to outpace colocation revenue growth in Q3, reflecting what it calls a movement towards "Interconnection Oriented Architecture" strategies and the adoption of hybrid multicloud as the preferred IT deployment model. Interconnection revenues grew 2.5% over Q2, while colocation revenues grew 1.8%.  On an annual basis, Equinix's interconnection revenue grew 12.8%, while colocation revenue grew 10.3%.

Cross connects between customers increased to more than 294,000, and the Equinix Cloud Exchange Fabric platform now serves more than 1,300 customers.

In Q3, Equinix completed nine expansion projects in eight markets including Culpeper, Frankfurt, Houston, Melbourne, Miami, Rio de Janeiro, Singapore and two in São Paulo. The company has 30 expansion projects currently underway across 21 markets in all three regions, including seven newly announced expansions in Frankfurt, Helsinki, London, Madrid, Osaka, Seattle and Warsaw.

In Q3, more than 59% of revenues came from customers deployed across all three regions, and 85% came from customers deployed across multiple metros.

Overall for Q3, Equinix reported revenue of $1.284 billion, a 2% increase over the previous quarter. Net income amounted to $125 million, an 85% increase over the previous quarter, including $9 million of integration costs for acquisitions.

Charles Meyers, who was appointed CEO of Equinix in September, stated "I am extremely proud of our track record of success in my eight years as a member of the leadership team, and that track record continues this quarter with our 63rd quarter of consecutive revenue growth. Since 2010, we have more than quadrupled the size of our business, and we have invested $22 billion in capital to build the world's leading interconnection platform, positioning us as the trusted center of a cloud-first world. As CEO I will build on this strong foundation, and we will remain focused on extending our core sources of differentiation: superior global reach; market-leading network and cloud density; the industry's most comprehensive interconnection portfolio; scaled digital ecosystems; and an unwavering commitment to service excellence."

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Arista hits Q3 revenue of $563 million, up 29% yoy

Arista Networks reported record revenue of $563.3 million for the third quarter of 2018, an increase of 8.4% compared to the second quarter of 2018, and an increase of 28.7% from the third quarter of 2017. GAAP net income of $168.5 million, or $2.08 per diluted share, compared to GAAP net income of $133.7 million, or $1.68 per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2017. Non-GAAP net income of $171.3 million, or $2.11 per diluted share, compared to non-GAAP net income of $128.2 million, or $1.62 per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2017. GAAP gross margin of 64.2%.

Commenting on the company's financial results, Ita Brennan, Arista’s CFO, said, “The business continued to execute well across key financial metrics in the quarter, with continued healthy revenue growth and earnings expansion.”

https://s21.q4cdn.com/861911615/files/doc_presentations/2018/11/2018-Highlights-Q3.pdf

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Syntiant raises $25 million for battery-powered AI silicon

Syntiant, a start-up based in Irvine, California, raised $25 million in Series B funding for its deep neural network processors for battery-powered devices.

Syntiant said its forthcoming neural decision processors (NDPs) will use an analog neural network that can offer orders of magnitude lower power by extreme memory efficiency along with massively parallel computation with modest precision. The processsors are targetted at applications as small as hearing aids and IoT, to as large as smart speakers and mobile phones.

The funding was led by M12, Microsoft Corp.’s venture fund, and included the Amazon Alexa Fund, Applied Ventures, Intel Capital, Motorola Solutions Venture Capital and Robert Bosch Venture Capital.

“We are both humbled and excited to be supported by several of the world’s greatest technology companies,” said Kurt Busch, CEO of Syntiant. “With participation from existing and new investors, and deeper guidance from our expanded board with the additions of Samir Kumar and Bret Johnsen, we will be able to commercialize Syntiant’s neural network technology for battery-powered devices to truly enable pervasive artificial intelligence.”

• Syntiant is headed by Kurt Busch, who previously led Lantronix. Before that, he was a senior vice president and general manager of high performance analog business unit at Mindspeed Technologies, acquired by MACOM.

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AT&T signs California for FirstNet services

AT&T has finalized a contract with the State of California that enables state and local public safety entities to procure FirstNet services.

FirstNet is the nationwide communications platform dedicated to America's public safety community. It's being built with AT&T, in public-private partnership with the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority).

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