NTT, NTT Advanced Technology (NTT-AT), ACCESS, IP infusion, Broadcom, Edgecore, UfiSpace, Fujitsu Optical Components, and NEC combine their technologies and products to provide IOWN network solutions that achieve high-speed data center connections at 400 gigabits per second.

This solution will be sold by NTT-AT and IP infusion.

Data center-related networks are broadly divided into two categories: networks for connecting servers and storage within a data center, and inter-data center networks for connecting multiple data centers.

IOWN network solution is a solution for connecting multiple data centers. The solution is a switch/router capable of long-distance transmission that supports 400 gigabits per second. The software and hardware are separated, and the solution consists of a network OS (software), white box equipment (hardware), and optical transceivers.
The solution has four features.
1) It uses optical transceivers equipped with IOWN photonics-electronics convergence devices, an area in which NTT has a strong presence. This provides low power consumption and stable transmission performance. Furthermore, as it complies with open standard specifications, it can be used in a variety of combinations.
2) With the optimal white box equipment and optical transceivers, users can select the combination that best suits their needs.
3) What was previously separated into switches/routers and transmission equipment has been consolidated into one, making it possible to connect data centers economically.
4) A network OS that offers a wide range of functions.

These features halve the construction and operation costs of connections between data centers, and reduce power consumption by 40%.
Shimazu Yoshitsugu, general manager of NTT’s Technology Planning Division, explains, “Traditionally, the switches/routers used for connecting datacenters integrated the hardware and software. The combinations of optical transceivers were also limited, resulting in vendor lock-in and high costs. IOWN Network Solutions separates the network OS, which is software, from the white box equipment, which is hardware, to expand the range of combinations. We also expand the range of optical transceiver choices by using products that support open specifications. By enabling flexible combinations, we achieve cost optimization”.

IOWN Network Solutions currently targets connections between datacenters, but in the future, they will also be applied to networks within datacenters.

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