Unlocking Success with DCI: A Comprehensive Guide to Data Center Interconnect

Data centers are growing at an unprecedented rate. There are already 7,500 around the globe, so there’s a good chance your business owns or connects to one or more. These data centers aren’t islands, They connect to each other using Data Center interconnect (DCI) technology. For more information on FS Data Center Interconnect, please visit our website.

What is Data Center Interconnect?

Data Center Interconnect (DCI) refers to the networking infrastructure and services that connect multiple data centers, enabling seamless communication, data replication, and resource sharing across distributed locations. In today’s digital landscape, businesses often operate multiple data centers to ensure redundancy, disaster recovery, and regional presence. Data Center Interconnect plays a crucial role in establishing high-speed, secure, and reliable connections between these geographically dispersed data centers. Data Center Interconnect allows enterprises to create a cohesive and interconnected infrastructure that supports their critical applications and services. It enables the efficient transfer of data, workloads, and resources between data centers, ensuring optimal performance, scalability, and flexibility. By seamlessly connecting data centers, businesses can achieve higher availability, improved data replication, and streamlined management of their distributed infrastructure.

Data Center Interconnect Essentials

Data Centers need to talk to each other—to share data and content and provide back-ups for redundancy. Fortunately, DCI technology enables the transportation of important items across any distance. This includes both within a city and across the Pacific or Atlantic oceans. Data may be carried across simple, point-to-point connections, more robust ROADM-based networks, or open line systems which support transport interfaces sourced from multiple vendors.

Data Center Interconnect Options

• Data center interconnects (DCIs) enable the connection between data centers, whether they are located in close proximity or separated by long distances. Organizations can use different applications to connect through fast Ethernet or optical interfaces on dedicated fiber or wavelength services.

• A DCI requires a high-speed WAN link, including MPLS, Ethernet and virtual private LAN service (VPLS). Metro Ethernet is an option to connect data centers within an urban setting. Each option offers high bandwidth, low latency and Layer 2 or Layer 3 access among data centers.

• Companies can use WAN optimization devices on each device. This will improve data transfer and reduce network traffic. As a result, it will also improve the overall data center infrastructure.Another option is to use dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) technology to extend the long-distance connection among data centers located far apart.

Key Challenges for DCI Networks

• Distance: DCI applications can vary greatly in size and scope. Data centers may be dispersed across a metro area, around a country, or all over the globe. Having enough performance to interconnect them while carrying the most bits the farthest is critical. Performance optimized coherent technology can transport more capacity at any distance, offering programmable interfaces with selectable baud and different modulation schemes to fine tune capacity for any application.

• Capacity: Data centers store and deliver the data that applications require. Routers are moving from 100GbE to higher speed 400GbE services. FS’s chassis supports 400G-6.4T large capacity transmission to handle these growing bandwidth demands, providing reliable, high-capacity connections.

• Security: Sensitive information is often stored in data centers. Financial transactions, personnel records, and other corporate data are all crucial and often highly confidential. As a result, DCI must be reliable, safe, and even encrypted to avoid costly breaches and data losses.

• Operations: Minimizing the labor, complexity, slowness, and errors that arise from manual operations for commissioning, provisioning, and managing the DCI network is an operational imperative. Optical networking platforms designed and purpose-built for DCI applications can be managed through open interfaces or Zero touch provisioning or full lifecycle management software platforms, giving network operators the flexibility to manage the DCI network the way that they want.

  

The Advantages of DCI for Enterprise Networking

• Connect content faster: Whether across the metro or the long-haul, you can ensure your network is ready to quickly interconnect high-bandwidth demands, applications, and customers. DCI provides a high-speed, direct connection between your data/servers, customers, and cloud providers.

• Rapid scalability: Quickly scale to meet the growing bandwidth needs of the most demanding cloud and over-the-top applications and data services. Eliminate capacity exhaust and flexibly interconnect your facilities, or connect your data center locations to a variety of multi-tenant data centers and cloud providers.

• Simpler to operate: New DCI solutions are easier to use than ever before. Easy planning, fast ordering, and quick delivery will lower operational costs and speed execution velocity. Streamline operations and business performance and simplify your customer’s experience.

• Quicker turn-up of services: Get new projects up and running and generating revenue faster than ever. Quick delivery with rapid turn-up and intuitive management means you can build new content delivery systems or provide new services to enterprise customers in record time. Meanwhile, you’ll have streamlined operations, improved business performance, and a better customer experience.

• Lower operating costs: Optimized designs with low power consumption and compact footprints reduce electricity, cooling, and real estate costs. Simple product architecture also helps lower management, sparing, licensing, and training costs.

Conclusion

For most companies, information is the business—it must be stored, protected, and easily accessible. Interconnecting data centers is critical to provide access to cloud applications and services and improve user and customer experiences. DCI solutions help you achieve all of this, while gaining efficiencies and lowering costs. FS can help you connect data centers regardless of their distance, whether they are just across the road in the same metro region, or across the continent.