New York State education, research network gets 100G fiber upgrade

NYSERNet, the New York State Education and Research Network, has deployed 100G equipment from optical transport systems vendor Ekinops to increase the capacity on its existing fiber-optic network, and offer additional services to members of the NYSERNet community.

NYSERNet is a private, non-profit corporation that delivers advanced networking services to research and education organizations across New York State. Members include leading universities, colleges, museums, healthcare facilities, primary and secondary schools, and research institutions. To improve access for members to the NYSERNet disaster recovery and business continuity data center in Syracuse, the organization needed to enable additional channels on its DWDM optical network. Initially, the cost of "lighting" those channels was a challenge, but the Ekinops 100G solution overcame that obstacle, the systems house asserts.

Thanks to the upgrade, NYSERNet will enjoy more efficient use of its network’s DWDM signals and expand the availability of 10 Gigabit Ethernet service to more of the organization's members. Following the initial deployment and thorough testing, the Ekinops equipment began carrying live NYSERNet traffic in July 2013, operating in a multivendor DWDM environment without any compatibility issues, the vendor says.

Bill Owens, chief technology officer for NYSERNet, said the Ekinops equipment "dramatically reduced the cost of lighting additional lambdas (channels) on the existing DWDM network and encourages use of the network and data center facilities for our members." He added, "The Ekinops equipment had the right mix of features, the ability to be added to our existing network without disruption, and a much lower cost than other options."

Patrick Gault, Ekinops' vice president of sales for the Americas, said the Ekinops 100G platform is designed for cost-effective operation across a broad range of service providers, allowing them to better serve their customers and generate revenue. "The Ekinops 100G system offers highly flexible multiplexing capabilities," Gault said. "Because it utilizes Ekinops' T-Chip [Transport-on-a-Chip] technology, with DynaMux dynamic multiplexing, the solution is not limited to aggregating only 10G services, as is the case with other manufacturers' offerings."

Source:Lightwave