Open Network Featured Article

Facebook (News - Alert) is evolving to become far more than social media. Its popularity as a social network is unparalleled, but its foray into networking is proving equally successful. Voyager is the industry’s first white box and routing solution made available to members of the Telecom Infra Project (TIP), and earlier this month it was put to the test.

While today’s network is tasked with more than any time in history, this is merely the beginning. From virtual reality and gaming, to streaming video and SaaS (News - Alert) applications, telecom companies must put network performance in mind before the next wave of requirements and demands makes land. In an effort toward future-forward networking, Telia Company provided support to Telia Carrier in testing Voyager, then shared those results with other TIP members.

“With TIP, we’re working on open, disaggregated and scalable ways to deploy network capacity efficiently within diverse and changing environments,” noted Hans-Juergen Schmidtke, co-chair, TIP Open Optical Packet Transport Project Group, and Director of Engineering, Facebook. “Telia Carrier helped us move closer to our goal by testing Voyager Transponder on their network. We are excited by the results of this trial and look forward to working with the TIP community to further develop Voyager.”

Utilizing Coriant (News - Alert) SDN-enabled optical networking technology and DCI solutions, the Voyager box successfully completed trials of 100G and 200G over Telia Carrier’s network – specifically from Stockholm to Hamburg

The test verified that Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) transponder systems offer the needed level of flexibility and accessibility for service to utilize in existing networks at a low cost and power consumption. The round is merely a first step, as moving forward Coriant, Facebook and Telia Carrier (in conjunction with TIP) plan to breaking down the software and hardware components of the network stack to push connectivity to its full potential.

“Coriant remains committed to open networks, and the Telecom Infra Project is playing a critical role in driving industry progress on this front,” said J.C. Fahmy, Vice President of Product Management and Business Development, Data Center Solutions, Coriant. “The emergence of packet switching/routing white boxes like Voyager opens up the potential for more open, more programmable, and more cost-disruptive network architectures, and we are excited to be teaming with TIP to extend our LightIP networking software to Voyager.”

The future of networking is open, software-based and high-performing, and as we sit with baited breathe eagerly awaiting the next generation of solutions the above mentioned “trio” is driving innovation to speed up the process.