Google's Dunant cable leverages SDM for 250 Tbps capacity

Google's Dunant submarine cable system, which will link the U.S. and France, will be the first subsea cable to leverage space-division multiplexing (SDM), enabling 250 terabits per second capacity.

In a blog posting, Vijay Vusirikala, Director of Network Architecture and Optical Engineering at Google, says SDM will increase cable capacity in a cost-effective manner.

Dunant's design uses twelve fiber pairs and power-optimized repeaters. Whereas traditional subsea cables are powered from the shore end and rely on a dedicated set of pump lasers to amplify the optical signal for each fiber pair, SDM allows pump lasers and associated optical components to be shared among multiple fiber pairs.

https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/infrastructure/a-quick-hop-across-the-pond-supercharging-the-dunant-subsea-cable-with-sdm-technology

Orange joins Google's Dunant transatlantic cable project

Sunday, October 14, 2018  Google, Orange, Subsea  

Orange is joining Google's Dunant transatlantic project, which is a 6,600km submarine cable connecting the United States to the French Atlantic coast. The system is expected to be ready for services late 2020.

As the French landing partner, Orange will build and operate the landing station on the French Atlantic coast and provide the backhaul service to Paris. In parallel, Orange will benefit from fiber-pairs with a capacity of more than 30 Tbps per pair.

Google to build private "Dunant" cable from Virginia to France

Wednesday, July 18, 2018  Google, Subsea  

Google is planning a new transatlantic subsea cable system linking the east coast of the United States to Europe to bolster its global network.

Dunant, which is named in honor of Swiss businessman and humanitarian Henri Dunant, will be a four-fiber pair cable system spanning over 6,400km from Virginia Beach to the French Atlantic coast.

Google has selected TE SubCom to build the Dunant submarine cable system. Activation is expected in late 2020.

Henri Dunant was the founder of the Red Cross and recipient of the first Nobel Peace Prize.

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SubCom confirms next gen SDM high fiber count undersea systems

SubCom confirmed the manufacturing and installation of next-generation SDM high fiber count (HFC) undersea systems. The company’s repeaters incorporate SDM technology with an HFC solution that utilizes pump sharing amplifier architecture for increased system reliability and optimized cost-effective capacity. This flexible architecture allows every amplifier to be supported by a combination of pump lasers, thus providing maximum overall capacity across 12FP, 16FP and 24FP trunk and branch segments.

SubCom also confirmed that its Wavelength Selective Switch (WSS) ROADM technology is now in production. WSS filter technology supports fully-flexible, reconfigurable routing of the optical spectrum on each fiber pair. This flexibility allows customers to dynamically reassign the optical spectrum between trunk and branches throughout the system’s life to achieve maximum value. Further flexibility is achieved using SubCom’s enhanced branching units (eBU) for optical path switching on up to 24FP branches.

To drive improvements in cable manufacturing, optical assembly and system integration, SubCom is using the latest tools and technologies at its factory in New Hampshire.

“We’re proud to consistently provide our customers with robust, future-proofed products that enable cable systems to operate at their peak performance over many years,” said David Coughlan, CEO of SubCom. “Our customers have peace of mind knowing that our strong optical and marine engineering offer them the best value for their investment. Getting the wet plant right and having the best products, installation and maintenance technology is the key to ensuring long-term, successful operation.”

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AWS backs renewables in California, Ireland, Sweden

Amazon Web Services has signed three more renewable energy contracts for powering its global infrastructure: one in Ireland, one in Sweden, and one in the United States. Together, the three projects will deliver wind-generated energy that will total over 229 megawatts (MW) of power, with expected generation of over 670,000 megawatt hours (MWh) of renewable energy annually.

In 2018, AWS exceeded 50 percent renewable energy for its global infrastructure. The long-term commitment is to reach 100%.

“Each of these projects brings us closer to our long-term commitment to use 100 percent renewable energy to power our global AWS infrastructure,” said Peter DeSantis, Vice President of Global Infrastructure and Customer Support, Amazon Web Services. “These projects are well-positioned to serve AWS data centers in Ireland, Sweden, and the US. We expect more projects in 2019 as we continue toward our goal of powering all AWS global infrastructure with renewable energy.”

• In Ireland, AWS is backing a 91.2 MW wind farm in Donegal, which is expected to deliver clean energy no later than the end of 2021.
• In Sweden, AWS will purchase 91 MW of power from a new wind farm in Bäckhammar, which is expected to deliver renewable energy by the end of 2020.
• In California, AWS is backing a windfarm in the Tehachapi Mountains, which is expected to bring up to 47 MW of new renewable energy capacity by the end of 2020.

https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/sustainability/

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Juniper offers Contrail SD-WAN as a service

Juniper Networks introduced a cloud-delivered version of its SD-WAN solution.

Juniper’s new Contrail SD-WAN as a service manages and secures WAN infrastructure, as well as branch LAN and Wi-Fi networks typically deployed alongside it. Juniper said this new SD-WAN solution pairs the simplicity of a cloud-delivered model with Contrail’s central orchestration of network infrastructure, delivering automated networking, security, analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) for IT.

“Juniper’s SD-WAN as a service easily connects and manages the full suite of Juniper’s branch and WAN solutions, making the benefits of SDN accessible to any enterprise,” said Manoj Leelanivas, Chief Product Officer at Juniper Networks. “This is a significant step in enabling our customers’ journey to AI for IT, extending the SDN transformation beyond cloud and data centers to the branch and the WAN. With this launch, combined with our recent Mist Systems acquisition, we are making industry-leading strides in our bid to make SDN and AI for IT a reality for companies of all sizes.”

Highlights:

• SD-WAN flexibility: Contrail SD-WAN now supports more variations of passive redundant hybrid WAN links, internet breakout at the WAN edge CPE or centralized WAN hubs, and topologies such as hub and spoke, partial mesh and dynamic full mesh. It has also been tested by third-party EANTC at scales above 10,000 spoke sites and is highly multi-tenant, allowing for unprecedented scale.
• Centrally managed branch LAN and WAN: Connecting Juniper’s EX Series Ethernet switches to a single or dual WAN gateway of NFX or SRX Series devices allows customers to centrally automate the WAN and LAN policy and provisioning for secure connectivity.
• Managed security: Customers now have even more choice and control in managing their security needs, including integration with cloud security provider ZScaler and management of the next-gen firewall features of the SRX or NFX devices, including Juniper Sky ATP.
• Mist Systems integration: Mist, the leading provider in AI for IT with the world’s first AI-driven wireless LAN, is now integrated in the new Contrail management interface. Customers can see operational and analytics data about the Wi-Fi alongside WAN, LAN and security.
• Open and adaptable solution: A flexible solution that can help enterprises quickly adapt and evolve, Contrail SD-WAN enables customers to extend a secure SD-WAN to hubs and spokes in the cloud by simply adding a vSRX into a public cloud IaaS of choice. Additionally, Juniper’s open standards-based architecture and open APIs allow for seamless systems integration and NetOps workflow automation.
• Juniper Financial Services offering: A variety of payment plans offered by Juniper Financial Services (JFS) at favorable terms to qualified customers. JFS provides financial simplicity with a single payment plan that cover bundled solutions, including Contrail SD-WAN as a service as well as campus and branch hardware and software such as the Mist WLAN solution.

Juniper to acquire Mist for cloud managed, enterprise Wi-Fi

Monday, March 04, 2019  Juniper, Mergers And Acquisitions  

Juniper Networks agreed to acquire Mist Systems, a start-up offering a cloud-managed, enterprise wireless platform, for $405 million in cash and equity awards.

Mist, which is based in Cupertino, California, has developed an AI-driven wireless platform for making Wi-Fi more predictable, reliable and measurable. Mist has also developed an AI-driven virtual assistant, Marvis, to simplify wireless troubleshooting and provide unprecedented insight into client and network behavior. In addition, Mist uses patented virtual Bluetooth LE technology in conjunction with Wi-Fi and IoT to deliver scalable and cost-effective location-based wireless services to customers, such as indoor wayfinding, proximity notifications, traffic analytics and asset tracking. All operations are managed via Mist’s modern cloud microservices architecture.

Mist’s Wireless LAN (WLAN) platform will be combined with Juniper’s wired LAN, SD-WAN and security solutions. Juniper said the deal also enables it to extend cloud-based management and end-to-end AI-driven visibility across the end-to-end enterprise network (from access to the WAN) to offer an industry-leading, software-defined and highly differentiated solution for simplifying operations, improving user experience and lowering total cost of ownership (TCO).

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PacketFabric provides connectivity to Switch data centers

PacketFabric has expanded its network to Switch, the hyperscale data center company.

PacketFabric customers are now able to access the data center from any location on the PacketFabric network, with other Switch facilities to follow shortly thereafter. PacketFabric provides highly scalable, private network connectivity on demand, at speeds from 1Gbps to multi-100Gbps, reducing the sourcing and provisioning times of network services to minutes, through an intuitive web portal and API.

“PacketFabric is proud to be a strategic part of the growing services and solution provider ecosystem within Switch’s premier Tier 5® Platinum data centers,” adds Chad Milam, President and Chief Operating Officer, PacketFabric. “The expansion to Switch brings our network-as-a-service platform to additional markets and gives our customers greater flexibility in connecting to our platform.”

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Tibit raises $20M for 10G PON Microplug

Tibit Communications, a start-up based in Petaluma, California, announced $20 million in Series B funding for its access devices for Passive Optical Networking (PON).

Tibit's MicroPlug OLT is a network access device for 10-Gigabit optical networking that reduces the amount of application-specific hardware needed for network deployments.The company says its standard-based SFP+ form factor allows the device to plug into almost any 10G switch port, greatly expanding architecture options for carriers. All this is enabled by the Tibit bridge ASIC, which supports a rich feature set across both ITU-T and IEEE 10G PON standards.

"The reception from our switch vendor partners and global carriers to our 2018 launch of the MicroPlug OLT has been tremendous," said Richard Stanfield, Tibit CEO and President. "The interest in deploying the Tibit solution across a variety of switch environments is a strong validation of the flexibility we've engineered into our solution."

The funding round was led by Intel Capital. TiBit was founded in 2014.

http://tibitcom.com/

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Bitglass raises $70M for Cloud Access Security Broker

Bitglass, a start-up based in Campbell, California, announced $70 million in Series D funding for its Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB).

The funding round was backed by new investor Quadrille Capital and existing investors Future Fund, New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Norwest and Singtel Innov8.

Bitglass, which was founded in 2013, said it continues rapid global expansion in its roster of customers and partners.

“Cloud adoption is disruptive of incumbents securing networks, servers and other infrastructure,” said Nat Kausik, CEO of Bitglass. “Our Next-Gen CASB uniquely secures against data leakage and threats without installing more hardware and software.”

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FiberStar Indonesia builds optical backbone with Huawei

FiberStar Indonesia is working with Huawei to build its national backbone. In 2019, FiberStar partnered with Huawei to build a 1 Tbps backbone DWDM network that connects Jakarta to Surabaya. Submarine cables and terrestrial cables form a ring network with a total length of more than 3000 kilometers. Among some sites, the length of a single span exceeds 350 kilometers.

FiberStar is a subsidiary of Indonesia's biggest conglomerate, the Salim Group's infrastructure-focused business. FiberStar currently provides coverage in 92 cities across Indonesia and is connecting the nation’s main islands, including Sumatra, Java, Bali, Kalimantan, and Sulawesi. FiberStar provides neutral network connections for more than 90 Internet service providers, TV network operators, and mobile operators.

Thomas Dragono, Co-Founder and Director of FiberStar, said: "Being the pioneer of Indonesia’s neutral infrastructure service, and considering Huawei’s advancement in the optical communications field, we have both decided to explore a deeper and stronger partnership. The consensus on the advantages of optical network technologies and evolution trends are the basis of cooperation between both parties. We will leverage the advanced DWDM and MPLS technology to expand the coverage of networks in Indonesia, and further facilitate the growth of the digital economy in Indonesia."

Daniel Zhou, President, Huawei South Pacific Enterprise Business Group said, “As the Asia-Pacific Internet industry accelerates cloudification, Huawei provides leading and innovative solutions for ICT infrastructure including cloud, data center and network, to help customers build open, flexible, agile and secure infrastructure platform to accelerate business innovation and remain competitive in the digital era."

http://www.huawei.com

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BT expands services with NATO

Following the signing of a new, three-year agreement with NATO’s Communications and Information Agency (NCI) for support services valued at €5.9 million, BT is expanding the range of services it provides to NATO to support the military alliance’s global operations.

BT connects more than 70 NATO locations internationally, including sites spread across the Alliance’s 29 member countries and beyond. Adding BT’s network support services to the agency enables NATO to roll out new solutions within the dynamic environment it operates in.

Bas Burger, CEO of Global Services, BT, said: “Digital transformation is a strategic driver for multinational organisations. Like many of our global customers, NATO faces a dynamic operational landscape and looks to harness the latest digital tools and technologies to enhance its performance.With our global secure network and expertise as a trusted supplier to governments, international agencies and multinationals, BT is well placed to support NATO in an increasingly digital world.”

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Aamir Hussain appointed CEO of Collinear - Free Space Optics

Aamir Hussain has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Collinear, a start-up developing intelligent wireless systems based on Free Space Optics (FSO).

Hussain most recently was Chief Technology Officer at CenturyLink. Before CenturyLink, Hussain held senior leadership roles with Liberty Global, Covad, TELUS, Qwest, Bellsouth and Motorola.

Collinear's technology is being developed in collaboration with Lockheed Martin Space. The systems are currently in trials with a number of prospective customers around the world. The company is headquartered in Santa Clara, California.

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ADARA debuts cloud-ready SD-WAN

ADARA introduced a new Cloud Version of its SD WAN platform, claiming 10X to 1,000X improved performance over common SDN, SD WAN and legacy networking. ADARA also says it is a minimum of 50% less expensive than published Cisco (Viptela) pricing.

ADARA's cloud-ready platform includes ADARA's Intent Based SD WAN Routers, ADARA's SD WAN Proxies, and ADARA's Direct Connection(s) Multi Cloud Management Platform. ADARA's AI algorithms measure network performance in real time and then dynamically adjust the configuration.

ADARA SD WAN is available on Amazon Web Services (AWS) Marketplace.

http://www.ADARANetworks.com

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Cellcom picks Mavenir for virtualized mobile core in Midwest

Cellcom has selected Mavenir to deploy its virtualized IMS mobile core and voice over Wi-Fi (VoWiFi) software solutions for its network in Michigan and Wisconsin.

For Cellcom, an IMS core for all network access types and a common provisioning and management system help decrease operational costs and allow convergence of the network to deliver voice and rich multimedia services across any network access (LTE, Wi-Fi, and eventually 5G).

Lee Thibaudeau, Cellcom’s CTO and Vice President of Engineering, said, “We look to Mavenir to help us transition our network to enable rapid service deployment for our customers. Mavenir’s deep expertise and extensive knowledge of implementing and deploying IMS and supporting services, will help us launch new product offerings on time and on budget. We look forward to partnering with Mavenir to deploy these new services for the benefit of our customers.”

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