They connect to each other using Data Center  interconnect (DCI) technology.

DCI connects two or more data centers over short, medium, or long  distances with high-speed packet-optical connectivity. DCI is important for  enterprises and operators looking to meet rapidly expanding demand for  cloud-based services and data.

DCI technology and solutions have been changing as cloud-based and  content-driven networks have evolved. Requirements for simplicity, density, and  power efficiency are bringing new DCI solutions to the market. With the recent  changes in the DCI landscape, now is a good time to re-examine the question:  why DCI?

There are a number of reasons  customers are turning to DCI:

  • Connect  content faster: Whether across the metro or the long-haul, you can ensure your  network is ready to quickly interconnect high-bandwidth demands, applications,  and customers. DCI provides a high-speed, direct connection between your  data/servers, customers, and cloud providers.
  • Rapid  scalability: Quickly scale to meet the growing bandwidth needs of the most  demanding cloud and over-the-top applications and data services. Eliminate  capacity exhaust and flexibly interconnect your facilities, or connect your  data center locations to a variety of multi-tenant data centers and cloud  providers.
  • Simpler to  operate: New DCI solutions are easier to use than ever before. Easy  planning, fast ordering, and quick delivery will lower operational costs and  speed execution velocity. Streamline operations and business performance and simplify  your customer’s experience.
  • Quicker  turn-up of services: Get new projects up and running and generating revenue faster than  ever. The quick delivery with rapid turn-up and intuitive management mean you  can build new content delivery systems or provide new services to enterprise  customers in record time. Meanwhile, you’ll have streamlined operations, improved  business performance, and a better customer experience.

Automated  back-office tasks: Industry-standard APIs and common management interfaces are  integrated into DCI solutions to enable the automation of labor-intensive  manual tasks and free staff from repetitive, error-prone manual operations,  while reducing maintenance windows.

Operational benefits
Enterprises and operators are  dealing with a data explosion. Cloud applications, video, and other needs are  pushing them to their limits. DCI offers enterprises and operators some important  operational benefits:

  • Lower  operating costs: Optimized designs with low power consumption and compact  footprints reduce electricity, cooling, and real estate costs. Simple product  architecture also helps lower management, sparing, licensing, and training  costs.
  • Increased  flexibility: DCI platforms give enterprises and operators considerable flexibility.  Choose from various connections and interfaces, protocol rates, modulation  schemes, and deployment scenarios. Plus, you can decide whether to run over new  or existing photonic lines in protected or unprotected configurations.
  • Capacity for  traffic growth: More easily meet traffic growth requirements for the foreseeable  future without massive injections of CAPEX, because DCI offers high capacity  and seamless scalability to multiple terabits per second.
  • Customizable  tools: By utilizing application development portals and  platform-embedded APIs, you can develop unique and customizable software tools for  management and automation, tailored to specific requirements.

Why is DCI important?
For most companies, information is the business—it must be stored, protected, and easily  accessible. Interconnecting data centers is critical to provide access to cloud  applications and services and improve user and customer experiences. DCI  solutions help you achieve all of this, while gaining efficiencies and lowering  costs. Ciena solutions help you connect your data centers regardless of their  distance, whether they are just across the road in the same metro region, or  across the continent.

Why Ciena?
Ciena’s DCI solutions leverage field-proven coherent optical  processing technologies to carry mission-critical traffic. These technologies  are trusted by customers around the world and across various industry segments.  Globally, Ciena has deployed more than 100 million kilometers of coherent  networking solutions—equivalent to 130 round trips to the moon. Ciena’s  reputation for delivering highly reliable networks enables data center  operators to eliminate worries about network failures and capitalize on high  availability as a competitive differentiator.

Recognized as the leader in DCI by Ovum in April 2016, Ciena  combines best-in-class optics and web-scale IT to deliver massive capacity and  programmability while providing power and space efficiency—all in a way that is  simpler to use, scalable, and tailored to each customer’s needs.