French Internet exchange point France-IX is working on improving its optical transport infrastructure with the help of networking company Coriant.

In an effort to modernize its metropolitan backbone in Paris, France-IX began installing Coriant’s Groove G30 Network Disaggregation Platform - a 100G, 1U interconnection module - in major data centers around the capital.

The G30 spot

As its name suggests, G30 allows for the disaggregation of switching hardware and network operating systems.

It can serve as an Open Optical Line system, which connects two data centers, no matter how far or close together, with programmable network functions; or, it can be used as a disaggregated muxponder, a transceiver able to combine multiple digital signals at once.

“A key part of our strategy is to anticipate Internet traffic growth and maximize the performance of our network to meet our members’ expectations for reliable and affordable Internet exchange services – today and into the future,” said Simon Muyal, France-IX’s CTO.

“After rigorous analysis of competing DWDM solutions, we selected the Coriant Groove G30 for its cost-competitive system density, power efficiency, and ease of operations that enables us to quickly scale optical capacity as the service demand cycles of our member community accelerate.”

The Internet Exchange began installing the module in data centers throughout the capital in the summer, and will continue to do so into 2018.