ADVA and Colt deploy 8-Gbps Fibre Channel over 135 km

JANUARY 19, 2009 -- ADVA Optical Networking (search for ADVA) and COLT, European provider of data, voice, and managed enterprise services, today announced the market's first deployment of an 8-Gbps Fibre Channel (FC) service over distance.

Featured within a customer's Storage Area Network (SAN), the new service, built specifically upon the ADVA FSP 3000's 8-Gbps FC card, provides a point-to-point link that stretches beyond 135 km, say ADVA representatives. Connecting two data centers with an 8-Gbps FC link across this distance was dependent upon the ADVA FSP 3000's Raman amplification capabilities to eliminate the need for mid-span huts and the associated operations and maintenance costs.

"The increasing growth in data-intensive, high-speed networking applications, particularly in storage environments, is driving the demand for Fibre Channel solutions at higher bitrates and longer distances," reports Dr. Alireza Mahmoodshahi, COLT Group CTO. "ADVA Optical Networking understands this demand and has developed an industry leading 8-Gbps FC solution capable of responding to our customers' needs. Successfully tested and deployed, ADVA Optical Networking has helped us to deliver a key service and a market first," he says. "We look forward to rolling this out to more customers soon."

ADVA Optical Networking and COLT Telecom are currently the only companies capable of deploying 8-Gbps FC over distance and have worked extensively to ensure this technology is able to perform under the most stressful network demands. Before installation, ADVA Optical Networking says it developed and extensively tested its 8-Gbps FC offering in its Meiningen, Germany, laboratories, ensuring that it could operate over large distances and that it is compatible with 10-, 4-, 2- and 1-Gbps FC interfaces and a range of industry switches, including Brocade's 8-Gbps SAN switch. This comprehensive compatibility ensures that enterprises can deploy all FC interfaces in the same network without additional capital expenses, claims ADVA.

"ADVA Optical Networking has a long history of developing technology innovations of real market value," adds Christoph Glingener, ADVA's CTO. "We were among the first companies to introduce 4-Gbps and 10-Gbps FC, and this successful implementation of 8-Gbps FC further emphasizes our commitment to the storage industry. COLT and ADVA Optical Networking have worked extensively to ensure this 8-Gbps FC service is specifically tailored to meet enterprises' growing data demands with the most cost-effective and flexible solution possible," he says.

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