PacketLight Networks has launched the PL-2000M Muxponder/Transponder, aimed at high-capacity, high-security optical transport in data centre interconnect (DCI), enterprise and campus network applications.
Metro networks are still mostly 10G-based and often run out of capacity, PacketLight points out. The PL-2000M packs a mix of lower-speed client services into a single 200G carrier-grade coherent uplink. This allows enterprise customers to transport 20 x 10G over a single wavelength so they can improve capacity and network efficiency without needing to replace the entire infrastructure.
“As the data footprint of every company increases exponentially, and the cloud ushers in an era of geographically disperse data centres, many enterprises struggle with effectively increasing and scaling their DCI capacity,” explained Koby Reshef, PacketLight’s CEO. “With PL-2000M, enterprises can now address their high-speed DCI transport speeds quickly and inexpensively, eliminating costs such as rack space, cooling, and additional hardware for security, repeaters and other network elements. It will be the first time a 20x10G running over a coherent 200G wavelength is more cost effective than using the traditional 20x10G transponders.”
The PL-2000M is the most compact, highly integrated muxponder on the market, PacketLight claims. Supporting a mix of 10G/40G/100G client interface protocols, the PL-2000M offers the lowest power consumption and the smallest footprint of its kind, together with on-board physical layer encryption to drive a significant reduction in capital and operating expenditure for enterprises and carriers, while also preparing them for evolving security requirements.
Offering double the spectral efficiency of 100G products, the 200G uplink is tunable across the entire ITU 50GHz and 100GHz grids. This saves wavelength resources and enables higher fibre and metro network utilisation. The platform also supports up to two integrated optical amplifiers and an optical switch for diverse fibre path protection.
PacketLight’s new box is also equipped with on-board Layer-1 security. With a dramatic increase in attempted breaches at the physical layer, the PL-2000M addresses security over the network without compromising performance or requiring additional hardware. The product complies with FIPS 140-2 Level 2 requirements, provides GCM-AES-256 encryption and key exchange based on the Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman (ECDH) protocol.