With the explosion of big data and the uptake of cloud computing deployments in the enterprise, networking requirements are becoming more complex, making the need for an agile IT infrastructure even greater.  Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) providers are striving to provide rapid provisioning of infrastructure on demand and increased levels of service flexibility such as consumption-based charging but many telco operators are struggling to provide this kind of usage.

Conventional WDM (Wavelength Division Multiplexing) networks, which most telcos use to connect to data centers, are no longer equipped to deal with the strain incurred by cloud deployments or increased network traffic. Additionally, long lead times and inflexible contract terms mean many organizations are bound by their operators’ limited capabilities.

ROADM (Reconfigurable Optical Add-Drop Multiplexer) networks have the potential to solve the industry’s data deluge dilemma. ROADM technology represents the next generation of high-capacity DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing) networks and offers greater reliability, scalability and flexibility than traditional network setups between data centers. 

Widely deployed across the US, ROADM networks are scarce in the UK and the technology has seen little investment up until now, but it is a technology likely to garner greater levels of interest in 2013 and beyond. These networks can be a huge benefit for customers counting on cloud service providers to supply incremental capacity at short notice. Furthermore, it ensures rapid, effortless provisioning of new connections with on-demand/just-in-time deployment. For configuration between sites, some network providers are giving lead times of less than 15 working days: conventional network deployments will typically have lead times of up to, and even exceeding, 60 days.

ROADM also means cloud customers can provision a protocol-agnostic and protocol-flexible network with virtually unlimited bandwidth and no charges for protocol changes – ideal for data center operations on the fly.

ROADM in practice
Digital Realty recently put this technology into practice for its cloud customers, connecting three sites in and around London’s M25 ringroad. The sites include its newly built 131,771 sq ft Chessington data center, its Redhill facility in Surrey and its Woking facility.

Each site hosts a variety of customers – systems integrators, IT service providers and enterprises – many of which deploy cloud services from Digital Realty’s platform. With many on-site customers having synchronous replication and other low-latency service demands, a flexible high-performance network was essential, as well as proximity to Central London.

Diverse fiber routes with fully resilient, high bandwidth connectivity and IP transit services provided the basis for the high-performance setup. With additional benefits of the ROADM network,  cloud customers also have new operational capabilities. For example, the user can reconfigure their data center network capacity while performing upgrades, or support a piece of short-term network development. ROADM supports such change by allowing customers to meet these temporary capacity requirements.

For the geographic proximity to London that Digital’s customers required, the ROADM network routes were essential, as was the use of M25-adjacent facilities. The quality of delivery platform for the Cloud is predicated on the existence of geographically diverse data centers. The networks that connect these sites to the end user function as highways, and in this case consisted of diverse fiber routes and a ROADM network.

With ROADM technology, the infrastructure limitations often at the heart of connectivity issues for peripheral London geographies are no longer a problem. While there is often a lack of available fiber from the office or London primary data center to the peripheral cloud compute centers, ROADM technology maximizes the connection potential back into the city and into the broader London-based data centers.

With this degree of operational benefits and an increased range of applications, modern ROADM networks have the ability to transform enterprise networks and, in turn, the calibre of technology initiatives they support. While ROADMs are not ubiquitous at present, as new technologies mature, it is likely they will soon lead the way.