Equinix Chooses Infinera Cloud Xpress for Hong Kong Data Center Interconnect
The fascinating part about looking at data centers and the use of optical fiber to increase the insatiable appetite for speed is that you really need to look at it holistically. From the interfaces on servers and other network elements to the fibers themselves being used inside the data center to the interconnection of disparate data centers, it is safe to say that almost every aspect of data center transformations is on a high fiber diet.
A good example of the interconnection of geographically dispersed data centers is the announcement by Sunnyvale, California-based Intelligent Transport Networks provider Infinera of its deal to provide Equinix with the Infinera Cloud Xpress to interconnect its Hong Kong data centers. This is no small undertaking.
Equinix is a bit of a household name in the data center business. It operates International Business Exchange (IBX) data centers in 33 markets across 15 countries in the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions. The company is a major provider of data center capabilities and interconnection for both enterprises and service providers.
The busy Hong Kong area is a prime location for data center location with a growing need for high capacity customer interconnectivity for companies such as Equinix between its facilities in the same metro area. As noted in the announcement, the Infinera Cloud Xpress employs a unique photonic integrated circuit technology to support up to one terabit per second (Tb/s) of input and output capacity in just two rack units. In addition, it is designed to simplify operations using only a single fiber to deliver a full super-channel of DWDM line-side capacity. All of this translates into space and power reductions of significant magnitude along with multiple management options including plugging into existing SDN Cloud provisioning systems to further reduce costs and agility.
"Equinix is growing rapidly across the globe and Hong Kong is no exception," said Raphael Ho, senior director, network engineering and operations at Equinix. "Our three Hong Kong-based IBX datacenters already support over 340 customers and we recently announced expansions at two of these sites. Cloud Xpress is an ideal solution for us to expand network capacity between our sites, with its high density, low power consumption and a very simple rack-and-stack operations model."
"Equinix and growing datacenter operators alike continue to see a tremendous demand for bandwidth, especially in space and power-limited metro locations," said Stu Elby, senior vice president of Cloud network strategy and technology at Infinera. "Cloud Xpress is a purpose-built rack and stack DWDM datacenter platform that addresses these needs and continues to gain traction in networks across the globe."
As the need for speed increases, Infinera has increased the options for customers since the Cloud Xpress introduction in 2014. It recently expanded the Cloud Xpress portfolio with 100 gigabit Ethernet (Gb/E) offering customers the choice of 10 GbE, 40 GbE and 100 GbE interfaces to meet their specific requirements.
Numerous analyst reports have observed the robust growth of the optical markets for data center transformations. This deal highlights the reasons for analyst enthusiasm and why metro area interconnection is one of the major drivers.
Edited by Dominick Sorrentino
