Cisco updates DWDM infrastructure

Cisco has launched ONS15 4.4 Release 7.0, an update for the ONS 15454 Multiservice Transport Platform (MSTP), which is aimed at enabling wide-area connectivity infrastructures for large enterprises and service providers.

The new product, which follows Cisco's release last week of a switch and chassis aimed at the Carrier Ethernet market, consists of updated transponders and muxponders.

New is the 10G Data Muxponder is aimed at data and storage aggregation over 10Gbit/s wavelength applications, and replaces the existing 1Gbit/s interface. It multiplexes data into a maximum of eight 1Gbit/s Fibre Channel or Ethernet, four 2Gbit/s Fibre Channel (FC), or two 4Gbit/s FC interfaces. It works over distances up to 1,400km, as well as offering performance monitoring. As well as FC, widely used for SAN connectivity, it also supports IBM's FICON storage interfaces, which runs over the FC link. Benefits include the ability to offer a variety of data and storage services from one device, thus lowering costs.

The existing 2.5G DataMuxponder offers a similar mix, but now adds eight ESCON interfaces.

The DWDM-capable 10G MR Transponder offers one 10Gbit/s LAN PHY and one 10Gbit/s FC interface. Cisco said benefits include the addition of both L and C band DWDM capabilities. It also supports ESCON, IBM's older storage connectivity technology. The DWDM-capable 2.5G MR Transponder provides OC-192 and STM-64 interfaces, 10Gbit Ethernet LAN and WAN PHYs, and a 10Gbbit/s FC interface.

New service management support includes Alien Lambda support for third party connectivity, a new metro planning tool for service providers, and the ability to provision a circuit from end to end.

Customers for the ONS 15454 include Euronext.Liffe, which has deployed the system in its business continuity infrastructure. The financial market trader uses SDH rings between London, Paris, and Amsterdam over which it runs FC over IP to connect its three data centres.