Equinix deploys Facebook-designed optical switches

Equinix is collaborating with Facebook and the Telecom Infra Project (TIP) to deploy and test Voyager, the Facebook-designed packet optical switches, inside two of its IBX data centers.

As part of the TIP “Open Optical Packet Transport” project group, Equinix is working closely with Facebook to field-test this next-generation packet optical networking technology.

Voyager is the first step in Facebook and Equinix’s goal of developing the next-generation network ecosystem for hardware and software.

Equinix said it will continue to work with Facebook and other vendors to include TIP-based hardware and software in their architectures as they deploy inside Equinix and develop the TIP ecosystem.

By working as part of TIP, Equinix is helping to define the deployment, operational and support models for the new disaggregated and virtual networking infrastructure.

Initial testing of the Voyager open packet-optical switch took place in Equinix’s SV3 and SV8 IBX data centers in Silicon Valley. Voyager is a combination of compute, switch, router and DWDM transport technologies. Preliminary results showed zero packet loss and significant overall cost savings due to this disaggregated hardware and software networking model.

“This emerging world of disaggregated optical networking will need a physical aggregation point where all the hardware and software can come together,” Equinix CTO Ihab Tarazi said.

Facebook director of engineering Hans-Juergen Schmidtkeat added that the Voyager ecosystem will serve as a first ever white box for switching, routing and DWDM in the wide area networks to exemplify a new way of open collaboration and innovation and has been contributed to the TIP community.