Facebook has deployed an Infinera Intelligent Transport Network to light the world’s longest terrestrial optical network route, spanning 3,998 kilometers without any regeneration.
The network, which is capable of delivering up to eight terabits per second (Tbps) of data transmission capacity, stretches from Facebook’s data center in Lulea, Sweden across major hubs throughout Europe. Facebook deployed the Infinera portfolio of products, which includes the DTN-X platform, to connect these hubs, harnessing Infinera’s unique FlexCoherent solution to deliver terabits of capacity on a single fiber across the continent.
Infinera said its DTN-X platform enables Facebook’s European network to deliver 100G coherent transmission via 500 Gbps super-channels, with the ability to support 1.2 Tbps super-channels in the future. The high capacity super-channels are enabled by 500 Gb/s photonic integrated circuits (PICs) developed and fabricated by Infinera – the only supplier providing 500 Gb/s of transmission capacity from a single line card. PICs enable the DTN-X platform to integrate wavelength division multiplexing super-channel transmission with up to 12 Tbps of non-blocking optical transport network switching, providing seamless scaling as traffic requirements grow in the future. The DTN-X also features SDN-ready application programming interfaces that enable network programmability and automation of network operations to reduce both operational cost and service delivery times while facilitating new services.
“The Infinera Intelligent Transport Network makes it easy for us to rapidly grow network capacity while keeping operations simple,” said Niclas Comstedt, Director of Network Engineering at Facebook. “Once the equipment is in place we are able to turn up as many terabits as we need.”
“I’ve worked closely with service providers around the world to test and deploy ultra-long-haul optical transport systems for over a decade,” said Steve Grubb, Fellow at Infinera. “The route we are announcing with Facebook is delivering multi-terabit capacity today and I believe this is the world’s longest 8 Tb/s capable route in production.”
“Facebook’s deployment of the Infinera Intelligent Transport Network underscores the value Infinera brings to Internet content providers and datacenter operators around the world,” said Tom Fallon, Infinera CEO. “Facebook is a classic example of how leading Internet content providers are building global networks that interconnect their datacenters to accelerate the delivery of high bandwidth, feature rich services worldwide.”
http://www.infinera.com/j7/servlet/NewsItem?newsItemID=447
- In June 2013, Facebook activated its major European datacenter in Lulea, Sweden, on the Fulf of Bothnia near the Arctic Circle. The facility is powered by locally-generated hydro power.
