Nokia Win a 10-Year Backbone Upgrade

As part of its GN5 IP/MPLS routing and switching replacement initiative, GÉANT is set to roll out 800 Gigabit Ethernet (GE) routing switches across its extensive 50,000 km footprint. GÉANT’s network serves as a critical interconnection point for Europe’s national research and education networks (NRENs), fostering data exchange between these networks and other NRENs worldwide.

The recently disclosed frame agreement involves the joint efforts of Nomios, a provider of diverse networking and cybersecurity solutions and services, and Nokia. This collaboration aims to comprehensively overhaul GÉANT’s IP/MPLS routing and switching infrastructure.

Specifically, Nokia will supply its 7750 Service Router IP/MPLS platform, incorporating its proprietary FP5 network processor. This chipset supports 800G transmission, effectively tripling GÉANT’s IP backbone capacity. FP5 not only integrates security features but also enhances energy efficiency by 75%.

Beyond hardware provisions, Nomios and Nokia will extend support and maintenance services to ensure uninterrupted connectivity and seamless operational performance.

Stephane Haulbert, Nokia’s Partner Business Leader in Europe, expressed, “We are excited to partner with Nomios and be the first to bring 800GE speeds to such bandwidth-intensive and rigorous research environments as GÉANT. This is a real achievement that demonstrates how our leading IP technology delivers the capacity, resilience, and security required for these essential, massive-capacity networks, with the optimized energy consumption the industry needs to meet their sustainability targets.”

Indeed, research activities generate an abundance of data, and this volume is consistently growing. Advancements in instruments like telescopes, sensors, and detectors have amplified data acquisition with heightened precision, sensitivity, and swiftness. Furthermore, supercomputers now play a pivotal role in processing vast data quantities, validating research findings, and more. Collaborative sharing of outcomes is commonplace among institutions across the globe.

In light of these pursuits, GÉANT currently handles a staggering 7 Petabytes (equivalent to 7 million Gigabytes) of data daily. The data load has escalated by an average of 30% annually over the past five years. Maintaining uptime is paramount for GÉANT, boasting an impressive average availability of 99.999 percent.

Bram Peeters, GÉANT’s Chief Technology Officer, stated, “We are pleased to extend our relationship with Nomios and Nokia by deploying Nokia’s high-performance IP networking technology across our extensive network infrastructure. The solution adds the capabilities we need to address the anticipated exponential growth in data and our security concerns. This project ensures that GÉANT modernises and maintains the essential world-class network the research and education communities rely on both in Europe and more than 100 countries across every region.”