solution brief: automating 40gbps & 100gbps optical ......©2015calienttechnologies!!! !! 1!!!...

©2015 CALIENT Technologies www.calient.net 1

Solution Brief:

Automating 40Gbps & 100Gbps Optical Connectivity in Development & Test Labs with Optical Circuit Switching

Optical Circuit Switching:

• Improves performance and reliability, and enables unlimited test-lab network scalability

• Delivers significant Capex and Opex reduction through test-lab consolidation and resource sharing, and reduced staffing and travel expenses

• Improves product quality and customer response times

• Delivers faster time to market for new features.

SDN AT LIGHT SPEED TM


INTRODUCTION & EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Automating the optical fiber infrastructure in product development and manufacturing test laboratories is an application where optical circuit switching delivers tremendous value. As more labs migrate solutions to 40 Gbit/s and 100 Gbit/s, traditional OEO automation solutions are either extremely

expensive or simply unavailable. The protocol and speed transparency of CALIENT’s S-‐Series Optical Circuit Switches (OCS) also delivers an additional benefit in labs – as interface rates scale in the future the OCS requires no upgrade, meaning that the total cost of ownership is extremely low.

This solution brief describes the economic and operational advantages that Layer 1 Optical Circuit

Switching (OCS) can bring to laboratory and test automation environments. The primary benefits are improved utilization of expensive capital equipment, reductions in labor and travel costs, consolidation of multiple lab facilities and overall enhanced return on investment. The OCS product delivers the

ability to reconfigure the physical optical topology in the lab with near-‐zero latency and unlimited scalability.

In the final section of this solution brief is a short customer case study demonstrating the significant cost savings and ROI that resulted from a real-‐world deployment of one of CALIENT’s S-‐Series OCS switches in

a Network Equipment Provider OTN regression test lab.

TEST AUTOMATION BACKGROUND

Automation labs are implemented as a means of housing hardware and software elements in an off-‐network test environment for use by various functional teams for a wide variety of purposes. A prime example would be for replicating network topologies to simulate actual production network conditions.

This could be for the purpose of trouble-‐shooting network outages and/or the development and testing of new product features in hardware or software. These capabilities are both valuable and critical to the deployment and operation of a top tier network.

THE CHALLENGE

Equipment manufacturing and R&D test labs are under pressure to reduce their true cost of test while meeting accelerated test schedules. For test lab managers, this means deploying equipment in a way

that minimizes capital spending while maximizing the efficiency of man-‐hours spent in the lab.

The challenge with existing test labs is that these facilities are very expensive to build and equip with a wide variety of high-‐value test and networking equipment and often the resources are seriously underutilized due to the large scale and lengthy reconfigurations that are required for every job or test.

With traditional manual reconfiguration methods, these reconfigurations can take days or weeks to complete, during which the lab and all its resources are completely unusable by any other functional group or for any task. Unproductive time is costly and the cost escalates when human labor is factored

into the wait/work time to make changes to lab configurations and setups.


THE CALIENT AUTOMATION SOLUTION

The CALIENT test automation solution combines reliable and field-‐proven hardware with intuitive management software to create a dynamic optical layer in test environments. This drastically reduces the lab provisioning time from days or weeks to minutes each and every time a change is required,

resulting in increased resource utilization rates, reduction in costly wait time, and much faster testing and release to customers for new product features and fixes.

With a minimal amount of training, any technician can use the system to reconfigure the test bed in seconds without needing to spend time and resources cleaning and inspecting the new optical

connections. Furthermore, the OCS enables technicians with administrative access to set user levels by port, thus preventing usage conflicts that can arise if independent test groups try to access each other’s resources.

As illustrated in Figure 1, networking hardware is interconnected via the OCS, allowing topology,

configuration, and test equipment changes to be made dynamically under software control without manual intervention.

Figure 1 – Improving Test Lab Facility ROI with CALIENT Optical Topology Reconfiguration

Reconfiguration is handled seamlessly and reliably each time without human intervention or errors.

Users build the required test topology using the CALIENT OCS (can be done locally or remotely) and network settings can be easily saved and recalled on demand for the next series of tests.


CALIENT’s S-‐Series OCS technology delivers this capability in an extremely reliable, field proven, low energy cost-‐effective package.

INTEGRATION WITH TEST LAB MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE ORCHESTRATION TOOLS

The test equipment and OCS can be integrated under a lab software management solution such as

Spirent’s Velocity, QualiSystem’s Testshell, or Narra Systems nFAST. With OCS in the solution, physical devices can now be shared and reserved using the tools already available in today’s fully automated lab environments. The OCS adds a new dimension of optical topology reconfiguration to existing automated

infrastructures allowing test topologies to be reconfigured on demand and expensive test equipment to be shared across multiple test setups. This is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2 – OCS Integrated with Test Automation Management Software Tools

CALIENT’S LIGHTCONNECT™ TEST LAB TOPOLOGY MANAGER*

For lab managers who need a simpler lab management solution focused on managing one or more

CALIENT OSC switches the LightConnect Lab Topology Manager offers a simple but powerful solution. As shown in Figure 3, this lab topology management solution includes:


Multi-‐Chassis Management including a centralized dashboard view of multiple switches and management of multi-‐hop connections

A Context Aware Network View with graphical view of network topology

Centralized User Management including management of individual lab users and permissions

Client Port Metadata including device alias and location, rate/protocol information, max/min optical

and transmit & receive power levels,

Centralized Port Grouping -‐ Assignment and management of individual user ports and shared resources

Interfaces to DCIM & DevOps Tools to help organizations rapidly produce and test products and services and to improve operations performance.

Figure 3 – CALIENT LightConnect™ Lab Topology Manager*

* Available Q1/2016

THE CALIENT S-‐SERIES WEBGUI

CALIENT’s own S-‐Series WebGUI (included with every switch shipped) also offers a very simple and effective “point and click” approach for controlling the optical topology in labs that don’t require a fully

featured lab management solution. The WebGUI supports system administration functions and allows


users to make cross-‐connects, monitor equipment alarms and optical power levels, and assign port groups to different lab users. Figures 4 & 5 show the intuitive WebGUI screens used for making cross-‐

connects and assigning port groupings.

Figure 4 – CALIENT WebGUI Port Cross Connection Screen

Figure 5 – CALIENT WebGUI Port Group Management Screen

SUMMARY OF BENEFITS

High-‐value benefits of CALIENT’s S-‐Series Optical Circuit Switches in development and manufacturing

test labs include:


Less Equipment is Needed: High-‐value test equipment (OTN tester, OSA, etc) can be shared across multiple test setups instead of investing in dedicated resources. Similarly, the same “Device Under Test”

can be used for multiple test scenarios and configurations

Multiple Labs Can be Consolidated: Large product vendors and end users typically have multiple lab environments each with its own networking and test equipment, real estate, power, and staffing costs. Examples include Product Development, Software Validation, Customer Support, and Presales Demos.

Automation facilitates consolidation by allowing test facilities to be used 24/7 and operated and configured remotely by different company stakeholders.

Reduced Staffing and Travel Expenses: Automated reconfiguration means new test setups can be provisioned at the touch of a button rather than manually. This reduces lab-‐staffing needs and allows

remote users to configure and run tests. There is virtually no need for users to travel to visit the test facility.

Improved Product Quality: Automation allows more thorough and reliable testing of equipment and networks due to expanded test coverage and better reproducibility.

Improved Customer Response: Customer networks can be simulated in hours vs. weeks allowing very

rapid response to problem and failure scenarios. There are also some tests that are extremely difficult to simulate without test automation. For example, in a service provider network, simultaneous fiber failure of 16 BLSR OC-‐192 rings would be almost impossible to simulate without fiber automation.

Improved Flexibility: Multiple test shifts can be scheduled and tests and re-‐tests can be rescheduled to

available off-‐peak periods to improve turn-‐around time. Lab technicians can work remotely if traveling or unable to be at the test facility due to weather conditions, illness, etc.

Faster Time to Market: Lab/Fiber automation without question reduces regression test and product

release cycles, allowing new products to be brought to market much more quickly.

PRIMARY ROI BENEFITS

LABOR & CAPITAL COST OPTIMIZATION

By virtue of being able to configure the lab into multiple topologies and without lengthy delays, various functional organizations can now make use of these valuable resources. For example, software

development teams can utilize the lab for a specific period of time, followed by network diagnosis time immediately after. When global organizations in different time zones are brought into the picture, labs can be used 24/7 and resource downtime goes to zero.

Optical Circuit Switching also allows expensive test equipment sets to be shared between test setups

and different functional groups within an organization on demand. In many cases this means that a


single piece of test equipment may be able to carry the load that previously required three or more independent test setups.

Figure 6 shows a comparison between non-‐automated and automated lab facilities and illustrates the

very positive effect on labor and capital cost optimization delivered by automated solutions including optical circuit switching. When lab facilities move to 40G and 100G, optical circuit switching becomes an essential element of the automation solution.

Figure 6 – Labor and Capital Cost Optimization Enabled By OCS-‐Powered Test Automation

GLOBAL TEST LAB CONSOLIDATION

Supporting global lab users with multiple local test beds and test equipment is costly and inefficient. An automated lab facility that also includes automation of the optical connectivity and topology means that

multiple labs in disparate geographical regions can be consolidated into a single globally-‐accessible facility, in which users can remotely build the right test topology to their unique specification. This is illustrated in Figure 7.


Figure 7 – Global Test Lab Consolidation Enabled by CALIENT’s OCS

Figure 8 illustrates the economic benefit of consolidating multiple labs to a single facility. This is directly

facilitated by test automation solutions with optical circuit switching. Large equipment vendors and major data centers are able to centralize all of their regional test facilities to a single global site, remotely accessible by all teams throughout the organization. This enables major capital and

operational cost efficiencies to be realized across the entire organization.

Figure 8 – Global Test Lab Facility Consolidation Enabled By OCS


EXAMPLE CUSTOMER CASE STUDY & ROI ANALYSIS

In this real-‐world case study, a large Network Equipment Provider purchased a CALIENT S-‐Series switch to automate an OTN networking equipment regression test lab and to consolidate a second customer network replication lab into the same facility. This resulted in significant savings through reductions in

headcount, maintenance, and travel costs as shown below.

-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐

Cost savings: OCS Budgetary Cost: $150k

Fewer technicians (5 to 2): 3 x $160k per year

Fiber cable maintenance: $5k per year

Travel cost savings: $35k per year

3-‐Year Cost Savings: $1.56M

CONCLUSION

Test automation is a well recognized application that delivers value by allowing testing and development

facilities to automate and share expensive test, networking, and compute resources between different groups, to dramatically speed up deployment of test configurations, to minimize labor costs, and to consolidate global lab facilities and sites.

CALIENT’s Optical Circuit Switches are an essential element of modern test automation solutions as bit

rates scale to 40G and 100G and conventional OEO solutions are either unavailable or very expensive.

Key benefits include reduction in test equipment Capex, consolidation of multiple labs into a single global facility, reduced staffing and travel expenses, improved product quality and customer response times, and faster time to market for new features.

CALIENT OCS Investment Payback: 3.5 Months

3-‐Year Project ROI: $1.4M


ABOUT CALIENT TECHNOLOGIES

CALIENT Technologies is the global leader in pure photonic Optical Circuit Switching with systems that enable dynamic optical layer optimization in next generation data centers and software defined networks.

CALIENT’s 3D MEMS switches allow data center operators to dramatically improve utilization rates of expensive compute resources, which typically account for 75 to 90% of investment.

Data center operators and metro service providers also deploy CALIENT switches at the edges of their networks to facilitate multi-layer network optimization for maximum efficiency and flexibility. In this application the optical circuit switches support network-wide implementation of SD-WAN regardless of the vendor or vintage of the optical transport system.

The company designs and manufactures its systems using the state of art MEMS fabrication equipment at its corporate headquarters in Santa Barbara California.

CONTACT INFORMATION

CALIENT Corporate Headquarters CALIENT Technologies

25 Castilian Drive Goleta, CA 93117 Phone: 805.562.5500

Fax: 805.562.1901

Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.calient.net


CALIENT’S S-‐SERIES OPTICAL CIRCUIT SWITCH

The explosion of video, mobile data, and server

virtualization is driving the demand for flexible, scalable, high-‐bandwidth networks. CALIENT’s S-‐

Series Optical Circuit Switches are a reliable and cost-‐effective solution for these networks because the

technology is transparent to data speed, and is protocol agnostic, thus it offers very high bandwidth

and configuration flexibility as networks grow in speed from 10Gbps to 40Gbps and 100Gbps.

Based on field proven 3D Optical MEMS technology that CALIENT has deployed in more than 500,000 optical connections globally, the new S-‐Series Switches deliver a sweet-‐spot of high reliability, small form

factor, low power consumption & cost, and ease of use that allows the benefits of true all-‐optical switching to be realized for the first time in a wide range of service provider and datacenter applications.

Applications The S-‐Series switches provide the scalable and protocol independent automated fiber interconnect and management infrastructure for a wide range of Datacenter, Service Provider, and Government

applications including:

• Flexible, scalable on-‐demand resource optimization in enterprise and cloud computing datacenters

• Rapid disaster-‐recovery from multiple network failure scenarios in any optical network • High port count colorless, directionless and contention-‐less (CDC) ROADMs in fiber-‐optic service

provider networks • Physical fiber network virtualization in metro SDN Service Provider networks

• Fiber To The Home (FTTH/FTTP) network automation – automated service activation & testing • Sharing of high-‐value testing resources in test automation & Cyber-‐range applications

Features & Benefits • Small Size: 320 Ports or 160 Ports (Tx/Rx pairs) in 7RU Chassis (LC Connectors) • Low Power Operation: 45 Watts typical • Low Cost: Supports deployment in datacenter, service provider, and government networks

• Ultra-‐low Latency: All-‐optical connectivity adds no latency. • Scalable: Supports all data rates to 100 Gbps and beyond

• Reliable: Based on proven 3D MEMS design deployed in over 500,000 fiber terminations globally • Simple to use and integrate: GUI-‐driven, EMS-‐ready, supports TL1, SNMP, CORBA, OpenFlow

• Low Insertion loss: 3 dB maximum • Built-‐in power monitoring: Every in/out fiber is monitored providing powerful network diagnostic

capabilities.

solution brief: automating 40gbps & 100gbps optical ......©2015calienttechnologies!!! !! 1!!!...

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