Equinix Collaborates with Facebook to Deploy and Test Industry's First Entirely Open Source-based Packet-Optical Network Solution

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Nov. 1, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Equinix, Inc., the global interconnection and data center company, today announced that it is working with Facebook and the Telecom Infra Project (TIP) to deploy and test the Facebook-designed packet-optical switches, known as Voyager, inside two of its International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data centers.  As part of the TIP "Open Optical Packet Transport" project group, Equinix worked closely with Facebook to field-test this next-generation packet-optical networking technology.

Voyager is the first step in Facebook and Equinix's journey of developing the next-generation network ecosystem for hardware and software.  Today's news builds on a previous announcement to provide Cloud Service Providers (CSPs), Network Service Providers (NSPs) and enterprises with an optimal environment to push technology boundaries and develop next-generation interconnection solutions. Equinix will continue to work with Facebook and other vendors to include TIP-based hardware and software in their architectures as they deploy inside Equinix and develop the TIP ecosystem.

Highlights / Key Facts

• Announced in February 2016 at Mobile World Congress, the Telecom Infra Project (TIP) was launched as a way for leading technology providers to develop new technologies and rethink approaches to deploying network architecture in order to support emerging 5G networking, IoT and virtual reality use cases. The scale, agility and cost requirements of these new use cases cannot be satisfied by traditional hardware-centric network architectures. By working as part of TIP, Equinix is helping to define the deployment, operational and support models for the new disaggregated and virtual networking infrastructure. Equinix will actively work with hardware and software networking vendors to create the ecosystem for this new, emerging networking model at Equinix. Since joining TIP, Equinix's CTO, Ihab Tarazi, has taken an active role in the group, co-chairing the Open Optical Packet Transport project group and also participating in the Backhaul track.
• Initial testing of the Voyager open packet-optical switch took place in Equinix's SV3 and SV8 IBX data centers in Silicon Valley. Voyager is a combination of compute, switch, router and DWDM transport technologies. Preliminary results showed zero packet loss and significant overall cost savings due to this disaggregated hardware and software networking model.
• Equinix CTO, Ihab Tarazi will be speaking about this project on-stage today, November 1, at the TIP Summit, taking place at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif.

Quotes

• Ihab Tarazi, CTO, Equinix:
  "This emerging world of disaggregated optical networking will need a physical aggregation point where all the hardware and software can come together.  With Equinix's rich history in network and cloud neutrality, it makes perfect sense that Equinix be the place where CSPs, NSPs and the TIP hardware and software vendors can join together to deploy next-generation networks.  We are thrilled by the initial results of our tests and look forward to future collaboration and innovation with this exciting initiative."
• Hans-Juergen Schmidtke, Director of Engineering, Facebook:
  "The Open Optical Packet Transport project group within TIP is developing technologies in an open community approach with the goal to drive better and broader connectivity globally. With Equinix's leadership and support, the Voyager ecosystem will serve as a first ever white box for switching, routing and DWDM in the Wide Area Networks to exemplify a new way of open collaboration and innovation and has been contributed to the TIP community."

Additional Resources

• Equinix Uses Facebook Technology to Build an Open Source-Based Ecosystem  [blog post]
• Learn more about Telecom Infra Project [website]
• Learn more about the TIP Summit [website]

About Equinix
Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX) connects the world's leading businesses to their customers, employees and partners inside the most interconnected data centers.  In 40 markets worldwide, Equinix is where companies come together to realize new opportunities and accelerate their business, IT and cloud strategies. http://www.equinix.com/.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from expectations discussed in such forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause such differences include, but are not limited to, the challenges of acquiring, operating and constructing IBX centers and developing, deploying and delivering Equinix services; unanticipated costs or difficulties relating to the integration of companies we have acquired or will acquire into Equinix; a failure to receive significant revenue from customers in recently built out or acquired data centers; failure to complete any financing arrangements contemplated from time to time; competition from existing and new competitors; the ability to generate sufficient cash flow or otherwise obtain funds to repay new or outstanding indebtedness; the loss or decline in business from our key customers; and other risks described from time to time in Equinix's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In particular, see Equinix's recent quarterly and annual reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, copies of which are available upon request from Equinix. Equinix does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking information contained in this press release.

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SOURCE Equinix