The agreement makes for 25% of a fibre pair between New York, Dublin and London, and ESnet’s first trans-Atlantic spectrum acquisition by ESnet.
“Scientific research has entered the exascale era, and researchers need to be able to rapidly, seamlessly, and reliably move vast quantities of data from instruments to high-performance computing facilities to their human collaborators all over the world — and back again,” said Inder Monga, executive director, ESnet.
“ESnet is committed to continuing to build a robust, redundant network ready to serve the Department of Energy’s research ecosystem now and for the long-term future.”
ESnet is the high-performance network built to support scientific research, funded by the US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Science and managed by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Secured for 15 years, this quarter-fibre-pair will provide a dedicated 5Tbps in connectivity in line with ESnet’s long-term trans-Atlantic strategy to meet demand for data traffic from DOE science collaborations and facilities, including the upgrade of CERN’s Large Hadron Collider.
“Subsea Spectrum offers the scalability and control of dark fibre at a fraction of the cost allowing customers to plan for their long-term network needs,” added Jim Fagan, CEO at Aqua Comms.
“By working with Aqua Comms, ESNet can be confident in our expertise and leading global subsea engineering services as we continue to demonstrate that we are at the forefront of the technology supporting the needs of our customers with high-bandwidth, efficient network services.”
The Aqua Comms network uses Ciena's GeoMesh Extreme subsea network solution, powered by WaveLogic 5 Extreme coherent optics and Manage, Control and Plan (MCP) software capabilities.
In addition, Ciena Services is providing subsea-specific automation for installation, spectrum activation, and testing, as well as submarine line terminal equipment technical support.
“When 400G wavelengths are not sufficient for growing demands, operators are turning to subsea spectrum to fulfil their scalable, continent-to-continent requirements,” said Thomas Soerensen, vice president of global submarine solutions, Ciena.
“With Ciena’s best-in-class GeoMesh Extreme solution, Aqua Comms’ network has the high bandwidth, intelligence, and cost efficiency to meet the unique connectivity needs of big science.”
