Birla Furukawa Fibre Optics Private Limited the Joint Venture Company formed between Universal Cables Limited, India and Furukawa Electric Co. Ltd., announced its 400G ready data center program for the evolution of data centers to 400G. The rapid rise in demand for online business transactions, Work from Home by Employees, and other cloud-hosted services, as well as the growth of IoT (Internet of Things) applications, has accelerated the need for data centers to evolve into the next wave of technology – 400 Gb/s optical networks, known as 400G. Birla-Furukawa has focused its strategy and investments on offering solutions to prepare Data Centers for this new level of evolution.
Based on experience in this area and long-term commitment to the market, Birla-Furukawa created the 400G-Ready Data Center program. Nitin Nayak, Business Head at Birla Furukawa said “This concept implies offering a set of products, solutions and services designed to support 400G applications in a data center, both current and future and this applies both to the internal environment of the data center and to the interconnection and between data centers, or any mission critical environment.”
The technological reference for the 400G is the Ethernet protocol. According to Nitin Nayak, multiple interfaces using this protocol are already available or under development – such as 400GBASE-SR4.2 and 400GBASE-DR4 – allowing the use of multi-mode and single mode fibers.”One of the advantages of the 400G-Ready concept is the flexibility to meet different needs for higher speeds, at different distances,” he says.
For the internal environment of the data center, for example, with distances of up to 150 meters, a recommended solution is the OM5 multi-mode fiber, which supports various wavelengths. Based on SWDM (Shortwave Wavelength Division Multi-plexing) technology, OM5 fiber can carry up to 8 wavelengths on a single multi-mode fiber optic, reflected in the optimization of data center infrastructure. Additionally, OM5 fibers are fully compatible with Ethernet or Fiber-Channel networks.
Nayak points out, however, that the strategy to prepare the 400G data center is not limited to offering products such as optical fibers or special MPO connectors, or even management software. “It is a broader concept, ranging from consulting and basic design, with the definition of the most appropriate network architecture and topology to take full advantage of the new 400G infrastructure, up to operational support,” he emphasizes
This is, according to Nitin Nayak, one of the main differentials of Birla-Furukawa. In addition to 400G-ready data center solutions, the company offers a suite of services such as blueprint, installation support, with inspection tracking, training, streamlined logistics, and an extended 25-year warranty (per program). “It is the combination of these factors that will ensure the success of the project and make the data center 400G ready,” he says.
Nayak also emphasizes that, while promoting this solution, Birla-Furukawa maintains a constant evaluation of the evolution of the industry in this area, participating in regulatory forums and following market movements. “At some point, there will be an evolution at 800 Gb / s, and / or 1.6 Tb / s. When this happens and is ratified by the standards organizations, we will adjust our offer. But, in the short and medium term, the most massive adoption will be 100 Gb / s and 400 Gb/s ”, concludes the Business Head of Birla-Furukawa.
