Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ: EQIX) has teamed with Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN) to enable on-demand virtual network capabilities that will enable service provider and enterprise customers to quickly provision high-speed, high-capacity network resources whenever they need them, the network equipment vendor reports.
Extending across the U.S., EMEA, and Asia-Pacific, these on-demand networks allow Equinix customers to benefit from the full promise of cloud — providing access to massive amounts of compute and network resources, exactly and only when needed. For example, a video service provider can provision an on-demand, high-speed connection during a major sporting event to stream low-latency HD video, and then decommission the connection once the event is over, only paying for actual usage.
Continued cloud adoption is creating massive disruptions in how businesses consume IT services, which is driving significant opportunities for Equinix, Ciena says. The cloud infrastructure market is expected to reach $6 billion in 2015 while the multi-tenant data center (MTDC) market is projected to reach $26.5 billion in 2014, with an 18% compound annual growth rate, according to 451 Research. Networks are strategic to these data centers, and there is a growing demand for more sophisticated interconnection services for multiple networks and facilities.
Equinix’s on-demand services are supported by a programmable software-defined network (SDN) architecture, leveraging Ciena’s Optical VPN and network functions virtualization (NFV) technologies as well as WaveLogic coherent optical processors.
Equinix is using Ciena’s 6500 platform in its metropolitan networks in the United States, Europe, Middle East and Asia-Pacific to provide 100G capabilities today – with a path to 400G and beyond in the future. In addition, Ciena says its V-WAN network resource broker and scheduling application as well as its network management capabilities lay the foundation for multi-layer SDN control, allowing Equinix to rapidly create and provision high-speed connections with greater agility and lower costs.
Ciena’s coherent optical technology and software also supports the Equinix Cloud Exchange, a new service that combines the automated interconnection of cloud, network, and managed service providers with advanced service orchestration, providing enterprises with simple, scalable and direct access to multiple cloud services. This offering minimizes cloud lock-in and gives Equinix customers the ability to create a private and secure 1G or 10G connection to transfer data between their own infrastructure and multiple cloud providers, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure.
“Many Equinix customers are looking for the ability to expand their networks globally and they require high-speed connections within a metro, or globally, between our IBX data centers. Through our relationship with Ciena, we can offer customers a dynamic and automated interface to the hundreds of network and cloud service providers inside our data centers and meet their needs for next-generation connectivity,” said Ihab Tarazi, chief technology officer at Equinix.
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