Germany’s DFN upgrades X-WiN R&E fiber network to 200 Gbps

Optical systems house ECI says it has supported the addition of 200-Gbps capabilities to X-WiN, the fiber research and education (R&E) network DFN operates in Germany. DFN, an existing ECI customer, will used the enhanced performance to meet growing bandwidth demand from users, including support for high-performance computing (HPC) and cluster computing.

The DFN fiber network supports more than 800 connected facilities. These include the Gauss Center for Supercomputing, the High Performance Computing Center in Stuttgart, and the Jülich Supercomputing Centers (JSC). The backbone network leverages ECI’s Apollo family of optical transport systems, which DFN first deployed in 2012 (see "DFN-Verein taps ECI Telecom for X-WiN research network"). An upgrade the following year boosted per-wavelength transmission to 100 Gbps (see "DFN-Verein turns to ECI Telecom for 100G fiber-optic network upgrade"). This latest enhancement doubles that rate through use of ECI’s new TR200-2 muxponder line cards. The TR200-2 provides two 200G transponder/muxponders in a single slot within any Apollo 9600 shelf.

"By upgrading to 200G, we're ensuring that DFN will be at the forefront of networking and well prepared for the future," said Christian Erbe, vice president, sales Europe at ECI. "The upgrades are based on new subscriber connections that will help expand the scientific network and make it more efficient. ECI's Apollo platform ensures the DFN can easily meet today's demand, while remaining future-proof and flexible to meet the needs of tomorrow."

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