24/7 Mid Atlantic Network builds fiber network for Ciena’s SDN research

Regional fiber-optic network provider 24/7 Mid Atlantic Network says it has completed its fiber build into Ciena's corporate headquarters located in Hanover, MD.

The new fiber path supports Ciena's research network, giving Ciena and its partners a platform to test the capabilities of software-defined network (SDN) and other advanced network technologies like agile photonics and real time analytics (see “Ciena joins research and education networks to study SDN for optical WANs”).

“24/7 is a valuable partner that understands the strategic value of our OPn architecture,” says Steve Alexander, Ciena’s senior vice president and chief technology officer. “They’ve helped us build a high performance network that both we and our research collaborators will use to explore new technologies and network capabilities in the SDN domain as well as in other facets of next generation networking.”

24/7 provides fault-tolerant fiber-based services throughout the Delaware, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia region. The company previously announced it has extended its network into several data centers and launched transport and Ethernet services across its footprint.

"24/7 is proud to have been selected by our partner Ciena to provide mission-critical infrastructure for such a leading edge project", adds Sean Baillie, president of 24/7. "We are excited to be an active participant in the ecosystem that is further developing SDN. The future of network design and management is actually happening now over our fiber."

For more information on high-speed transmission systems and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer’s Guide.