Drivenets and Infinera, on Wednesday announced the completion of testing and certification of multiple Infinera ICE-X ZR/ZR+ modules that can be tunable, configurable, and manageable by DriveNets Network Cloud software. The combined solution offers a converged network infrastructure that will enable operators to substantially lower their operating costs and complexity by reducing the number of network elements they need to manage. This convergence is now possible due to technology advancements in ZR/ZR+ pluggables that support greater distances, eliminating most of the need for a separate optical network.
Following last year’s announcement that Network Cloud will support ZR/ZR+ optics from multiple vendors on its supported white boxes, today’s announcement highlights the continued adoption of open, disaggregated networking solutions by network operators worldwide. DriveNets plans to announce additional joint solutions in coming weeks.
The joint DriveNets/Infinera solution includes enhanced network configuration and management software capabilities and enables DriveNets solutions to seamlessly manage and benefit from the unique programmability and flexibility offered by Infinera’s ICE-X coherent pluggable solutions.
It also enables network operators to leverage Infinera’s ICE-X pluggable solutions, such as 100G/200G Single Fiber bi-direction operation and 4x100G intelligent fan-out and offer new revenue-generating services such as 100G to 200G high-speed business services over single fiber PON infrastructures.
The use of ZR/ZR+ on DriveNets Network Cloud delivers significant savings by collapsing layer-1 to layer-3 communications into a single platform. It also eliminates the need for standalone optical transponders, lowering the number of boxes in the solution, and reducing operational overhead, floor space, and power. In addition, the DriveNets NOS (DNOS) supports the Infinera modules in multiple modes of operations, including ZR, ZR+ and Open-XR.
Nir Gasko, Vice President, Global Strategic Alliances for DriveNets
Network operators are increasingly turning to open networking solutions that allow them to mix and match elements from multiple vendors, avoiding vendor lock. Our integrated solution with Infinera enables operators to not only leverage the unique features of Infinera’s ICE-X ZR/ZR+ modules, but also benefit from the operational simplifications that the integration with DriveNets Network Cloud provides.
Russ Esmacher, Senior Vice President, Strategy, Marketing, and Corporate Development at Infinera
DriveNets disrupted the market by introducing a disaggregated software-based networking solution that streamlined networking hardware over standard white boxes and redefined the economic model of the network. Integrating our ICE-X ZR/ZR+ modules with DriveNets Network Cloud takes this disruption one step further, enabling our joint customers to further lower their OpEx and build more efficient, scalable, and robust networks.
