All-optical switch specialist Polatis has launched the Polatis 6000n Protection Services Switch (PSS) for protection against fibre layer network failure. The PSS is designed to be a compact and cost-effective alternative to the 1+1 protection switch modules used in multiservice provisioning platforms to create redundant network paths for wavelength and dark fibre services.
Polatis also revealed that systems integrator WWT is deploying the Polatis 6000n PSS in a network architecture to protect wavelength services in Cisco 15454 multiservice provisioning platforms for a Fortune 50 retailer’s private metro network.
By packing up to 16 protection switch module functions into a low-power, compact 1RU form factor, the PSS offers a high-density option for network path protection and frees equipment card slots for revenue-generating services. The PSS integrates seamlessly with existing network equipment and can be easily integrated with the customer’s element management system.
“With accelerating demand for bandwidth and cloud services driving line rates beyond 100Gb/s at a rapid pace, the risk of losing business continuity due to fibre failure is an increasing threat to service providers and enterprises. Yet, redundancy at the fibre layer is often not economically feasible,” said Gerald Wesel, president and CEO of Polatis. “The introduction of our Protection Services Switch brings both capex and opex benefits for ensuring carrier-class network availability and the guaranteed continuous flow of data.”
The PSS is based on Polatis’ DirectLight all-optical switch technology which sets the industry standard for performance and reliability, the company claims. Switch and restoration times are better than 30ms even with simultaneous events on all 16 paths, which ensures that higher layer network equipment will not experience service interruption due to fibre line degradation or failure.
Because the PSS uses an all-optical switching platform, it is line rate, protocol and format agnostic, providing a future-proof investment. The low latency and high performance of the PSS make the product ideal for protecting data centre interconnect links as well as wavelength and fibre services, Polatis asserts.
“The Polatis 6000n Protection Services Switch enables new system configurations for cost-effective protection of wavelength and fiber services, with software-defined intelligence to automatically protect and restore fiber paths, seamlessly,” said Kathi Bomar, Technical Solutions Architect at World Wide Technology. “Given the opportunity to add fiber layer protection at an attractive price point to high capacity network segments, it makes sense to enhance availability.”
The Polatis 6000n PSS supports manual or fully automated protection switching and restoration based on user-defined thresholds. The compact form factor and low power consumption of the PSS reduces operational costs, with plug-and-play features ready for service out of the box without the need for complex configuration.
The Polatis 6000n PSS is available immediately in 4, 8 and 16 line pair configurations.