Ciena Corporation has collaborated with CANARIE (Canadian Network for the Advancement of Research, Industry and Education), Internet2 and StarLight to build the industry’s first network that unites all of the key packet, optical and software building blocks required to demonstrate and prove the benefits of software-defined, multi-layer wide area networks (WANs). The collaboration leverages Ciena’s OPn network approach to create the industry’s first fully operational end-to-end WAN that leverages OpenFlow across both the packet and transport layers, is supported by an open architecture carrier-scale controller and intrinsic multi-layer operation, and incorporates real-time analytics software applications.
The research network is designed to help spur innovation in the telecommunications industry by giving research and education (R&E) institutions and other network operators a platform to experiment with Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and other advanced technologies like agile photonics and real-time analytics software applications. Ciena believes that SDN is key to the next wave of value creation for service providers as it brings network programmability together with powerful new software intelligence capabilities to help monetize and optimize network assets in dynamic service environments. This new network platform will help speed SDN development for carriers and enable Ciena and its partners to explore and refine practical paths to SDN adoption and realization of its benefits.
Steve Alexander, Senior Vice President and CTO, Ciena said, “Going above and beyond a simple testbed, this live, fully functional network will drive continued innovation and demonstrate how a truly OPn network architecture can unleash the full power of SDN in the WAN. By building the industry’s first fully-featured, fully-open and fully-operational, end-to-end and multi-layer SDN-powered WAN, we can offer a real-world experience for customers and researchers to trial, refine and prove SDN concepts and technologies in both the network and the back office – without having to build a unique infrastructure for every use case.”