CERN adopts PacketLight PL-1000 to connect datacenter

USA: CERN adopted PacketLight PL-1000, a compact and reliable 1U 10G solution, to connect its datacenter

CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics, is one of the world’s largest and most respected centres for scientific research. Its business is fundamental physics, finding out what the Universe is made of and how it works. At CERN, the world’s largest and most complex scientific instruments are used to study the basic constituents of matter — the fundamental particles. By studying what happens when these particles collide, physicists learn about the laws of Nature.

Founded in 1954, the CERN Laboratory sits astride the Franco–Swiss border near
Geneva. It was one of Europe’s first joint ventures and now has 20 Member States.
PacketLight Networks, in partnership with Infractive, a France based VAD, was able to satisfy the technology need for CERN by providing a flexible, carrier grade DWDM solution fit for all its requirements.

The challenge
The proposed solution had to be compact but reliable carrier grade equipment yet economically feasible. In addition, future upgrades to the network or introduction of additional sites in the network had to be done without interrupting the existing traffic.

PacketLight Networks perfectly matched the requirements of CERN. The PacketLight carrier grade DWDM solution PL-1000 gave CERN a throughput rate of multiple 10 Gbps in a compact and easy to configure 1U chassis with the possibility of a simple upgrade, thanks to pluggable XFP’s.

The PacketLight Networks PL-1000 was chosen because of its compact size, intuitive operation and low costs as compared to other alternative solutions. PL-1000 based solution of PacketLight Networks provides CERN with 8 channels of 10 Gbps services at each site expandable up to 16 10 Gbps channels. Additional services can easily be introduced without interrupting already functional services by connecting additional 1RU chassis and appropriate XFP’s at each site.

By opting for the solution of PacketLight’s active WDM solution, CERN received a completely controlled optical transport network with remote monitoring, a dedicated optical supervisory channel (OSC) and possibility of line protection if desired. In addition, PL-1000’s low latency and low power consumption further reduces CERN’s operating costs.

“We were impressed with the ease and simplicity of the installation process. We chose to install the solution ourselves first in our lab environment, and then pushed it live. The solution was operational in less than a day, which I must say is quite quick for a new technology implementation. In addition, we were pleased with the responsiveness and on-the-pulse customer service that we received from PacketLight, ” stated Jean-Michel Jouanigot, Communication Systems Group Leader, IT Department, CERN.