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Ciena Enables High-Speed Data, Storage, Voice and Video Across MGM MIRAGE Mission-Critical Network

Ciena® Corporation (Nasdaq: CIEN), the network specialist, today announced a multiyear agreement with MGM MIRAGE, one of the world's leading entertainment, hotel and gaming companies, to supply its ONLINE Metro™ Multiservice DWDM platform to expand bandwidth capability and converge multiple services on a single infrastructure.

With continuing growth of network services that included storage, voice and video, and limited access to fiber, MGM MIRAGE sought to expand its traditional networking architecture to incorporate DWDM technology and to enhance sharing of network resources. Ciena’s ONLINE Metro connects several of the MGM MIRAGE key properties to ensure the continuity of critical business operations like reservation systems and casino entertainment equipment.

"We anticipate a tremendous amount of growth in network services over the next several years and were looking for a solution that would allow us to host all types of traffic on a single network while maximizing the investment in our fiber infrastructure," said Laura Fucci, CTO at MGM MIRAGE. "We chose Ciena's ONLINE Metro because, in addition to meeting all of those needs, it also enables the resiliency we need for mission-critical applications."

MGM MIRAGE partnered with Ciena, EMC Corporation and Brocade to implement its data center mirroring application, providing the highest level of resilience and reliability for disaster recovery and distributed data networking. The gaming company’s advanced architecture includes Gigabit Ethernet as well as the highest rate 2Gbps Fibre Channel transport utilizing EMC’s industry-leading EMC Symmetrix® Remote Data Facility (SRDF®) remote storage replication software running synchronously between Brocade SilkWorm® 12000 Directors.

Ciena’s recently announced go-to-market strategy as the network specialist includes a heavy emphasis on enterprise applications like the data center mirroring effort by MGM MIRAGE. In its specialist role, Ciena focuses its expertise on the most critical network pain points to help its customers exploit new applications for economic gain – as opposed to reaching across the entire network with generalist offerings. This approach emphasizes partnerships and interoperability with other leading providers to bring together best-of-breed technologies tailored for each customer’s unique network challenges.

“We are impressed with the proven interoperability of solutions from Ciena, EMC and Brocade,” Fucci said. “Due to the vendors’ interoperability testing, we were able to validate the success of our application prior to the production installation.”

“Our focus allows us to be the very best at high-performance enterprise connectivity. Ciena’s approach to – and success with – business-critical networks such as the network owned by MGM MIRAGE illustrates the value in simplifying enterprise network architectures to reduce costs and to extend access to vital applications across the business,” said Gary Smith, president and CEO of Ciena. “This was an all-around win for Ciena, based on our innovative technology, support services and industry relationships, and it highlights the economic benefits we can provide to today’s evolving enterprise networks.”