Tech Update: What can AIOps actually do for networks?

How long before AI becomes not just an add-on, but a transformative force enhancing every aspect of networking from design and deployment to management and optimization. 

What can AIOps do today? Jean English, Chief Marketing Officer from Juniper Networks, explains:

- The importance of starting with experience-first questions to enhance user experience for both the end-user and the operator, and how AI plays a crucial role in this process.

- The significance of rich, real-time, and relevant data in operating the network, and how Juniper Networks has been leveraging this for over 7 years to provide an exceptional user experience.

- The concept of AI Ops and how Juniper takes networking to a whole new level by creating a virtual Network assistant, Marvis, that identifies and resolves problems before they are even noticed, ensuring a better user experience and allowing operators to focus on more strategic issues.

https://youtu.be/LCDPa70d7_s

Have a tech update that you want to brief us on? Contact info@nextgeninfra.io!

 Check out other Tech Updates on our YouTube Channel (subscribe today): https://www.youtube.com/@NextGenInfra and check out our latest reports at: https://nextgeninfra.io/

Read More

Tech Update: Can AI proactively predict the user experience?

It is the dream of the CIO that someday IT problems will fix themselves before the user notices. 

How far are we from this bright future? Sudheer Matta, Group VP Product Management, AI-driven Enterprise from Juniper explains:

- The introduction of Marvis Minis, a proactive AI tool that anticipates and resolves network issues before they affect the user experience.

- The concept of a 'digital twin' of the user experience, built natively into the network, that validates user and application experiences across all network subsystems.

https://youtu.be/Nq5jj53lvkc

Join us as we delve into the transformative power of AI in networking, and share your thoughts on this groundbreaking technology. Our upcoming video showcase and report will feature the industry's best thinking.

Read More

Tech Update: AI for Networking-for-AI

You've heard of Networking-for-AI, but how do you leverage AI to better manage this same infrastructure? Amit Sanyal, Senior Director, Data Center Product Marketing from Juniper, provides insightful answers:

- Amit discusses the concept of AI native networking, which involves systems and solutions designed with AI in mind. This approach simplifies the management and operation of networks.

- He introduces Marvis VNA, a virtual network assistant that leverages AI to monitor, troubleshoot, and manage networks. Initially used for Wi-Fi campus and branch networking, it has now been extended to data center networking.

- Amit also highlights how Juniper is delivering high-performance, low-latency, and easy-to-manage networks for AI workloads, both for training and inferencing.


Join us as we delve into the future of networking, where AI is not just a tool but a transformative force that is enhancing every aspect of networking, from design and deployment to management and optimization.

https://youtu.be/INmbN4BSypA

Have a tech update that you want to brief us on? Contact info@nextgeninfra.io!

Read More

Tech Update: Benchmarking Networking-for-AI

Networking-for-AI is certainly a hot topic these days. The race is on to build the most powerful AI cluster. But how do you know if the network is up to the challenge? Infiniband or Ethernet? Praveen Jain, SVP/GM, AI Clusters and Cloud-ready Data Centers from Juniper explains:

- The importance of benchmarking for AI in networking and how Juniper has built its own AI cluster to measure performance and ensure optimal utilization of resources.

- How AI is transforming networking into an autonomous infrastructure with self-configuring, self-optimizing, and self-healing networks.

- An upcoming event on July 23rd when Juniper will discuss the rapidly evolving AI ecosystem, Ethernet vs. InfiniBand, and creating sustainable AI data centers. 

https://www.juniper.net/us/en/events/ai-native-now/seize-the-ai-moment.html

Join us to learn more about the future of networking where AI is not just a promise, but a reality. Share your views and contribute to our comprehensive report on how AI is impacting the management and operations of networking AI Ops.

Have a tech update that you want to brief us on? Contact info@nextgeninfra.io!

Read More

Microsoft plans $1 billion data center in La Porte, Indiana

Microsoft will invest $1 billion to build a new data center in northwest Indiana. 

The new 245,000-square-foot data center will be located on 489 acres at the Radius Industrial Park in La Porte, Indiana. The campus will join Microsoft's worldwide network of cloud computing infrastructure of more than 60 Azure regions, more than 300 data centers, over 280,000 kilometers of network, and over 190 edge sites.

“Microsoft is excited to expand our datacenter infrastructure into Indiana, with our first campus to be built in La Porte,” said Bowen Wallace, Microsoft CVP Datacenters, Americas Region. “We appreciate the collaboration with the State, City and the La Porte Economic Advancement Partnership that has made this opportunity possible. We look forward to an enduring and beneficial relationship with Indiana and the City of La Porte as we build and scale our data center infrastructure to support our customer and partners.”

“Projects like this happen once in a lifetime, and their effects are felt forever,” said La Porte Mayor Tom Dermody. “What makes this even better is that we get to work with the talented and community-minded team at Microsoft. From the very beginning of this project, they have been committed and attentive to the needs of our community. We are incredibly excited to welcome them here and look forward to a strong collaboration long into the future.”

The announcement  marks Indiana’s fourth strategically located major planned data center announcement in 2024. Together, these Fortune 500 businesses have made plans to invest $14.8 billion in cloud computing and storage infrastructure in communities and regions across Indiana, creating 1,500 new jobs in Fort Wayne, Jeffersonville, La Porte and New Carlisle.

https://members.laportepartnership.com/news/details/gov-holcomb-announces-plans-for-new-1b-microsoft-data-center-in-northwest-indiana

Read More

Ciena posts Q2 revenue of $910.8 million, down 20% yoy

Citing excess inventory with customers, Ciena reported revenue of $910.8 million  for its fiscal second quarter ended April 27, 2024, down 19.6% as compared to $1.13 billion for the fiscal second quarter 2023.

Ciena's GAAP net loss for the fiscal second quarter 2024 was $(16.8) million, or $(0.12) per diluted common share, which compares to a GAAP net income of $57.7 million, or $0.38 per diluted common share, for the fiscal second quarter 2023.

Ciena's adjusted (non-GAAP) net income for the fiscal second quarter 2024 was $39.4 million, or $0.27 per diluted common share, which compares to an adjusted (non-GAAP) net income of $110.4 million, or $0.74 per diluted common share, for the fiscal second quarter 2023.

Some highlights

• One 10%-plus customer represented a total 13.8% of revenue
• Non-telco represented a 46% of total revenue
• Reconfigurable line systems (RLS) revenue grew 12% YoY
• India revenue grew 16% sequentially Global Services revenue grew 5% YoY
• Customer traction continues with WL5e 800G technology, reaching 290 customers
• For our WL5n 400ZR/ZR+ pluggables, we have 104 customers, 18 new this quarter
• Orders for WaveLogic 6 Extreme from a total of 14 customers
• Surpassed 100 Routing and Switching customers using our WL5n pluggable technology
• Added a new Tier 1 EMEA RSP mobility customer
• Achieved our first Tier 1 vBNG deployment in a residential broadband use case

"Our fiscal second quarter performance underscores the strength in our business amid a challenging near-term environment as service providers continue to work through existing inventory," said Gary Smith, president and CEO, Ciena. “With continued robust growth in bandwidth demand, we remain focused on extending our leadership in optical as a foundation for expanding our addressable market.”

https://investor.ciena.com/news-releases/news-release-details/ciena-reports-fiscal-second-quarter-2024-financial-results

Read More

Colt expands in Asia

Colt Technology Services latest strategic move is an expansion into six Asian countries: the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

Although Colt has been engaging with multiple B2B telecom carriers in the region, a new non-exclusive strategic partnership will offer the following benefits to customers in the region as well as to Japanese and global companies seeking to enter and expand within the region:

• Competitively priced Ethernet and IP Access services across Southeast Asia through the strategic partnership, which support customers’ SD-WAN requirements and promote cloud adoption in the market.
• Offering similar levels of On-Net Product SLAs (Service Level Agreements) as those provided with our own fiber in other areas.
• Streamlining and improving the end-to-end customer experience and journey, as well as the overall sales cycle. Enhancements include improved quotation speed (from several weeks to a few days), faster service delivery, direct engagement for strategic opportunities, and service operational alignment with a strategic partner.

Colt has strengthened its global position through the acquisition of Lumen’s EMEA business and expanded its coverage into North America via a strategic relationship. Additionally, with recent expansions into the West Japan and South Korea Metro Areas, Colt plans to leverage its global partners to extend its business into Southeast Asia.

Regarding the business expansion in APAC this time, Ms. Annette Murphy, the Chief Commercial Officer of Colt said, “According to Global Data, the average compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for B2B Network Services in the region from 2022 to 2027 is estimated at 9.8%*, which is higher than in the United States (7.05%) and Europe (8.41%). APAC is a key driver of growth, and I am delighted to announce our strategy to position ourselves as a global leader in Digital Infrastructure. This business expansion will be part of our scheduled investment in APAC, totaling 100 million Euro (about 16.8 billion yen at the exchange rate of 1 Euro=168 JPY) in the next 3 years.

Yasutaka Mizutani, President, APAC who leads the project also mentions as follows, “The strategic partnership enhances our ability to offer greater service availability and extensive regional expertise, as well as competitive pricing through economies of scale. These efforts enable us to provide comprehensive end-to-end network services globally, benefiting customers in Asia and those looking to connect their networks from the world into Asia. Our AI-driven insights estimate the target market size at approximately 2,206  million euros (approximately 370.6 billion yen).”

https://www.colt.net/resources/colt-technology-services-introduces-asia-growth-strategy-including-expansion-of-its-business-in-six-asian-countries/

Read More

Cologix acquires 2 data centers in Iowa

 Cologix has acquired two ted data centers in Iowa from Connect Des Moines. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• DSM1 - Located downtown in the Financial Center building at 666 Walnut Street, DSM1 is 4,000 square feet and 600kW of power and enables connectivity to 26 unique networks in the Cologix Meet-Me-Room with direct access to the DesMoinesIX internet exchange. DSM1 also features an additional 10,000 square feet of expansion capacity with 1.0 MW of power.
• DSM2 - The DSM2 digital edge data center is 12,500 square feet and 1.0 MW of power located in the Cedar Valley region of Cedar Falls, Iowa, which comprises six counties strategically located along key transportation routes and offers connections to domestic and international markets through Des Moines, Chicago, Omaha and Minneapolis, ensuring low latency routing options. This facility has expansion potential for an additional 10,000 square feet and is connected to DSM1 via a diverse fiber ring.

“As companies across all industries are increasingly reliant on digital infrastructure, the need for geographically dispersed and well-supported data centers is paramount,” added Ortman. “Our Des Moines facilities will provide businesses with the critical resources they need to scale their IT infrastructure, optimize performance and achieve their digital transformation goals.”

Read More