Multilayer SDN controller and applications based on Ciena’s OPn network architecture enable software-defined, carrier-grade WANs

Addressing network operators’ need to bring the programmability and on-demand nature of the cloud to the wide-area network (WAN), Ciena® (NYSE:CIEN), the network specialist, today introduced its Agility software portfolio. Including a multilayer SDN controller for the WAN and an initial set of three new software applications, Agility enables the delivery of virtualized, on-demand network services and functions. It leverages advanced, real-time analytics to help network operators provision multi-vendor networks, ensure maximum efficiency and resiliency, and rapidly create and deploy new, differentiated virtualized services at lower cost.

Ciena’s new Agility software portfolio is built using the OpenDaylight framework. This gives network operators the ability to leverage a mix of open source, self-developed and vendor components from a broad ecosystem and helps them avoid being locked-in to a single vendor. Building on the company’s pedigree in intelligent software capabilities via its OPn® network architecture, Agility also enables the network to dynamically predict and respond to changing demands from high-bandwidth services and applications. This allows providers to monetize and optimize their networks, enterprises to optimize user application experience, and government agencies to ensure mission-critical performance.

Key Facts:

  • Ciena’s new Agility      Multilayer WAN Controller gives network operators agile      allocation of network resources at the packet, circuit and wave layers and      is uniquely designed for WAN scale, reach and resiliency. By leveraging      the vendor-neutral OpenDaylight ecosystem, Ciena's controller delivers an      open, modular architecture which eliminates the prospect of vendor      lock-in, enabling network operators to source network applications from      Ciena, third parties, and their own IT staff. This controller is a      focal point of joint development with Ericsson and      further development will leverage contributions from both companies to      expand its capabilities.
  • Complementing      the Agility Multilayer WAN Controller, Ciena’s suite of SDN applications use      advanced real-time analytics to provide greater network assurance,      efficiency, monetization and application-driven agility. The new network applications      include:
    • Navigate – a multilayer path computation engine that combines a global view of all network resources and service demands with advanced analytics-based algorithms to automatically determine the best possible route through the network to establish a connection.
    • Protect – a centralized global restoration calculator that speeds and increases resiliency and minimizes restoration bandwidth by pre-computing and distributing an optimal set of contention-free restoration paths for distributed execution in case of any failure.
    • Optimize – a multilayer network optimizer that defragments the network to free up stranded bandwidth by reallocating raw capacity and fine-tuning connection routing.
    • V-WAN – a network resource broker and scheduling application that offers immediate or scheduled bandwidth-on-demand to customers through an end-user portal or applications such as cloud and NFV orchestration systems via its open northbound API. Additional V-WAN applications include:
      • MyPerformance network service health monitoring application that gives real-time and historical end-to-end service performance metrics.
      • MyPortal Web portal application that allows service provider customers to request bandwidth on demand and verify delivery and performance.
      • MyAdapter data center integration application that orchestrates bandwidth on-demand from the enterprise data center, across multiple network operator domains, to the selected cloud provider based on transaction auto-detection.
      • On-demand Service VPNs that provide end customers with dedicated, multi-site network resources that they can allocate at will offering greater certainty of capacity compared to first come, first serve bandwidth-on-demand services
    • V-WAN is available today, while the rest of Ciena’s      Agility software portfolio is entering field trials with multiple service      providers. In fact, Ciena’s V-WAN network      resource broker and scheduling application as well as its network      management capabilities lay the      foundation for multilayer SDN control,      allowing industry-leading data center provider Equinix to rapidly      create and provision high-speed connections with greater agility and lower      costs.

    Executive Comments:

    • “Demands for greater service agility and efficiency are driving network operators to look for ways to remove network cost and complexity. An open platform that virtualizes network resources and provides software defined control, like Ciena's Agility software portfolio, can provide operators with an extensible foundation on which to build revenue-generating on-demand cloud and network functions.”
      - Eric Hanselman, Chief Analyst, 451 Research
    • “Our      customers want an ecosystem – not an ego-system with one vendor in the center      trying to wrest control. Ciena’s approach strongly embraces openness for a      true, vendor-neutral ecosystem. With      our new Agility software portfolio, we are complementing an industry open      framework with high-impact, analytics-based applications to deliver autonomic      operations programmability, multilayer optimization and carrier-grade      scale and availability within an agile network architecture that is dynamic      and responsive to customer needs."
      - Francois Locoh-Donou, Senior Vice President, Global Products Group, Ciena

    Upcoming Events:

    • On July 17 at 11 a.m. ET, Ciena will host a webinar about its new Agility software portfolio. The webinar will feature Eric Hanselman, chief analyst from 451 Research and Ciena’s Chris Janz, vice president, market development and Mitch Auster, senior director, market development. Click here to register.

    Supporting Resources:

About Ciena
Ciena (NYSE: CIEN) is the network specialist. We collaborate with customers worldwide to unlock the strategic potential of their networks and fundamentally change the way they perform and compete. Ciena leverages its deep expertise in packet and optical networking and distributed software automation to deliver solutions in alignment with its OPn architecture for next-generation networks. We enable a high-scale, programmable infrastructure that can be controlled and adapted by network-level applications, and provide open interfaces to coordinate computing, storage and network resources in a unified, virtualized environment. For updates on Ciena news, follow us on Twitter @Ciena or on LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/company/ciena. Investors are encouraged to review the Investors section of our website at www.ciena.com/investors, where we routinely post press releases, SEC filings, recent news, financial results, and other announcements. From time to time we exclusively post material information to this website along with other disclosure channels that we use.

Note to Ciena Investors
Forward-looking statements. This press release contains certain forward-looking statements based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements are based on information available to the Company as of the date hereof; and Ciena's actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied, due to risks and uncertainties associated with its business, which include the risk factors disclosed in its Report on Form 10-Q, which Ciena filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 11, 2014 Forward-looking statements include statements regarding Ciena's expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future and can be identified by forward-looking words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "should," "will," and "would" or similar words. Ciena assumes no obligation to update the information included in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.