28 September 2012
Energy consumption is quite literally a hot topic for data center designers these days. A recent year-long study on this topic, published by the New York Times, provides an interesting perspective on this problem. According to the article, while most companies are reluctant to share details of their data center designs, it can be shown that a single data center supporting Amazon, Google, Facebook, or many other household names can easily consume as much power as a small city. Data centers worldwide consume around 30 billion watts of electricity, the equivalent of about 30 nuclear power plants. The power required to run servers, networks, and storage may only be a fraction of this total; heating and cooling of the data center also contributes to overall power consumption, as well as redundant power in the form of backup generators and batteries.
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By Casimer DeCusatis, Ph.D., Distinguished Engineer, IBM System Networking Strategic Alliances, CTO Strategic Alliances, Member, IBM Academy of Technology, IBM Corporation | Posted: 26 September 2012
I’m going to go out on a limb here – I’ll bet that your work has been crazy busy lately, worse than last year, with tighter budgets and constant demands to do more with less. Did you even find time to take a decent vacation this summer, or were you too busy checking email every day? In fact, how did you even find the time to read this blog? That’s a rhetorical question, by the way; you’re invested in it now, a full four sentences in, so you may as well keep going.
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By David Chaffee, Founder and CEO, Chaffee Fiber Optics | Posted: 12 March 2012
OFC has become well known for many reasons, including the fact that it provides strong glimpses into the future of the fiber optics industry. This is true in the development of the technology. But it often can become clear with regard to what the markets are going to be, as well.
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By David Chaffee, Founder and CEO, Chaffee Fiber Optics | Posted: 7 March 2012
Decoding the importance of cloud computing and collapsing layers in the network to make for simpler, less expensive networks were two dominant themes at the Service Provider Summit located on the OFCNFOEC 2012 show floor this morning.
Cloud computing is essential to handling peak loads of traffic, according to Verizon’s Stu Elby, who provided the keynote address. Examples Stu provided included traffic the Internal Revenue Service has to handle up to April 15 and university registration in the days leading up to the fall and spring semesters.
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By David Chaffee, Founder and CEO, Chaffee Fiber Optics | Posted: 7 March 2012
The 2012 OFCNFOEC plenary session this morning was highlighted by a vision into the future of cable TV and a very moving talk by Isao Sugino of Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications on the impact on telecommunications infrastructure of the 2011 tsunami, which he considers the worst natural disaster in Japanese history.
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By David Chaffee, Founder and CEO, Chaffee Fiber Optics | Posted: 5 March 2012
There may be no one in the fiber optics industry who believes more in the ability of the optical technologist to figure out problems holding the industry back than Infinera Chief Marketing Officer Dave Welch.
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By Lisa Huff, Discerning Analytics | Posted: 2 March 2012
There are some exciting new product directions that many optical components suppliers are taking. The industry has been talking about optical integration for many years and some companies, like Infinera (Booth 1158), have implemented it into their real-world products. While Infinera develops its technologies to be used internally only for its optical transport equipment, there are many more companies making similar advances. It seems we’re on the brink of some true industry breakthroughs using what many have deemed “optical engines.”
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By John D’Ambrosia, Chairman and Member, Board of Directors, Ethernet Alliance; Chief Ethernet Evangelist, CTO Office, Dell | Posted: 1 March 2012
On June 13, 2002, IEEE Std 802.3ae-2002TM, otherwise known as the 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) standard, was ratified. Shortly after the ratification of this standard, the industry saw a new generation of networking and the explosion of the Gigabit Ethernet market. These networking technologies helped fuel the likes of companies such as Google and Facebook, and the mass deployment of Gigabit Ethernet servers arguably set the bar for what the Ethernet industry identifies as a successful standard.
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By David Nugent | Posted: 29 February 2012
1 August 1981: MTV was launched at 12.01AM by broadcasting “Video Killed the Radio Star”, the chart-topping song by British synthpop group The Buggles. Yet ironically radio-over-fiber appears poised to resuscitate video-burdened networks at home and work. So has millimeter-wave photonics come of age?
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By Steve Alexander | Posted: 28 February 2012
One of the reasons I look forward to OFC/NFOEC each year is the event’s pure collection of networking talent and insight. Attend and you’re sure to come away with a new perspective on the future of optical networks and the services that run over them.
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