Ciena’s new WaveRouter is pure ‘clean-sheet’ thinking, purpose built, and carves out a new role in the network. Learn how you can depend on Ciena Services' experts to give yourself every assurance of success up front.

Most technology advances are incremental. There’s nothing wrong with that; it’s the nature of product development and those incremental advances are important. But breakthroughs, by definition, are exceptional. Every now and then―seriously, just every now and then―someone has the vision and moxie to make a genuine shift in how we architect network technology.

A case in point is Ciena's revolutionary WaveRouter^TM. That’s not hyperbole. WaveRouter is pure ‘clean-sheet’ thinking, purpose built, and carving out a new role in the network. It even looks unique.

The case for it is obvious: Converge optical, ethernet, and IP in one device, add massive and flexible scalability (from 6Tb/s to 192Tb/s and beyond, on demand,) reimagine the backplane to enable growth to non-adjacent racks and rows, and manage it from a powerful and intuitive unified multi-layer controller, all while drastically reducing footprint, power, and cooling requirements. It’s all about market-redefining simplicity, future-proof scalability, and superior sustainability.

When you learn more about it, you will want WaveRouter in your network.

The operational hurdle with any groundbreaking technology is weighing known benefits against staying with the status quo. In a live network, anything that can materially enhance performance presents a conundrum: Not implementing the new technology risks depriving end users of a better experience, while implementing something new could upset the comfort of the present mode of operation. The fact is when the benefits can’t be missed, you must implement. But how do you make sure it is a seamless transition?

The solution is apparent. When disruptive technology is still unfamiliar, rely on the consultation and support of those who know it best―the vendor.  Later, when you have sufficient experience, you can make an informed decision either to outsource ongoing deployment activities or bring them in-house.

Given that, here are some important considerations to look for from your vendor partner.

1. Planning and design. Getting a seemingly small detail wrong in the design phase can lead to major headaches once a new device is operational. This particularly applies to new technologies. Look for a partner whose experts use a proven methodology supported by a powerful automation framework that helps ensure you reach your goals for growth, reliability, and resiliency, all while keeping the project on track.

Regarding WaveRouter with its full-fill density of coherent optics, Ciena Services will leverage our expertise with IP and optical solutions to capture planning requirements, develop comprehensive high-level design (HLD) and low-level design (LLD) documentation to converge transport, L2, and L3 networks as well as the integration with the optical layer.

2. Solution validation. Confirming a new platform design will work as expected for a specific set of use cases before it’s installed is something we all know we should do―but is challenging when resources are finite.

Creating your own validation lab is expensive. It requires the right network devices, specialized tools, and people with the right skills to use them. This is particularly true when working with a brand-new device paradigm like WaveRouter. If your aim is to get to market faster, mitigate risk, and maximize return on strategic investments, then a solution validation service from the people who do this work every day is money well spent.

3. Deployment. How you install familiar hardware and software generally comes down to your operational model: DIY or partner with a deployment specialist. Particularly in uncertain economic environments, offloading occasional tasks to a partner enables agility to focus on strategic priorities while reducing OpEx and risk. But unfamiliar, newer equipment can sometimes change the approach.

WaveRouter’s transformational architecture―with no backplane, slot tradeoffs, or stranded capacity―features a unique, extensible router switch fabric that scales easily as you grow. Its building block approach allows you to evolve the number of ports, switching capacity, and number of coherent optics used as capacity grows with demand. Such flexibility requires careful layout planning, the use of adequate cable management accessories, labeling, and maintaining design documentation.

Ciena’s deployment capabilities help you smoothly install and turn-up by combining best practices, proven processes, and tools with the vendor-level insights of our people to facilitate troubleshooting, reduce downtime, and enable the architecture for future expansion.

When you introduce a genuinely groundbreaking concept into your network―and Ciena’s WaveRouter absolutely qualifies―you do so for its operational, financial, and/or sustainability benefits. To ensure you maximize your benefits, do yourself a favor by taking advantage of Ciena Services’ unique insights and experience upfront. Just remember you are not alone; this is what they do every day and it’s a great time to leave it to the experts to give yourself every assurance of success up front.