Ciena powers AboveNet’s ultra-low latency network

WHITE PLAINS & LINTHICUM, USA: Ciena Corp. announced that AboveNet Inc., a leading provider of high bandwidth connectivity solutions, has deployed Ciena’s 2RS module for the CN 4200 FlexSelect Advanced Services Platform as part of the service provider’s recently introduced Agility Guarantee program, which provides industry-leading ultra-low latency service level agreements (SLAs).

The CN 4200 module helps lower delays in optical connections by up to 20 percent, enabling AboveNet to offer its customers high bandwidth connectivity with optimum speed and performance for critical, latency-sensitive applications, such as algorithmic or futures trading, VoIP and video.

AboveNet serves its business and carrier customers over a private fiber optic network that delivers network connectivity and IP services in and among top US metro markets and globally. The company’s private metro optical networks offer a variety of Metro Wave and Metro Ethernet services.

With the Agility Guarantee program, AboveNet is now offering its financial services, energy trading, online gaming, and media and entertainment customers a network solution that delivers round-trip latencies as low as sub-1 millisecond for some services. The program uses real-world, round-trip numbers for the end-to-end network – not one-way metrics, averages or SLAs for only part of the network, such as between points of presence.

“When tiny fractions of a second can mean the difference in huge amounts of revenue, latency is by far the top priority and key decision criteria for our target customers, which is why our fiber-intensive private optical network gives us a huge advantage over competitors that have lots of intermediary routers, switches and other equipment that simply add more latency and potential points of failure to the network,” said MaryBeth Nance, Executive Director of Business Development & Marketing at AboveNet.

“Lots of service providers talk about having low latency, but AboveNet is focused on aggressively driving it out of the network and then going a step further and guaranteeing it with our new Agility Guarantee SLAs.”

Ciena’s CN 4200 is the only optical service delivery platform that offers on-demand programmability and support for any service, any time, anywhere. The platform’s enhanced OTN technology right-sizes capacity to support multiple services on a single wavelength for greater transport efficiency. And with enhanced features including the 2RS and low-latency dispersion compensation modules, CN 4200 supports low network latency configurations, enhancing transactional application performance.

“AboveNet is a long-time customer that has chosen Ciena to be among the select few vendors to provide equipment to support its network. The deployment of Ciena’s 2RS modules on AboveNet’s base of CN 4200s underscores the ongoing value of that network investment and our mutual goal of enabling high-capacity, low-latency connectivity for end customers,” said Mike Aquino, Senior Vice President of Global Field Operations at Ciena.

“The enhanced capabilities of CN 4200 demonstrates our commitment to continued research and development in increasing network capacity and reducing latency from our existing platforms for creating service-driven networks with unparalleled performance.”