The story of 800G
Faster & Greener
Are you ready for 800G?
In the fast-moving world of Internet there seems to be only one constant: traffic volumes will go up. Readying ourselves for the next period of growth we have rolled out 800G over all Amsterdam datacenters while at the same time simplifying our Amsterdam network and making it more efficient. We managed to cut cost, significantly bring down power consumption, and make the way we connect customers more efficient, simpler and faster.
We are ready for 800G, are you?
Why 800G?
NL-ix is readying itself for another 100% increase in traffic and 800G will play an important part in this. It is the more economic and more sustainable choice, and we believe it will be the standard for big content networks, international clouds and larger ISPs. The new Nokia equipment is faster and also greener. It helped us bringing down the power consumption per Gbit from 0.9115 Watts to 0.1065 Watts. The simplification of our network, where we directly connect customers from all Amsterdam datacenters via grey lasers to our core switches, eliminates the need for expensive and power-hungry optical networking equipment resulting in even greater savings in power and cost.
We are proud to partner with NL-ix in the rollout of 400GE and 800GE, providing NL-ix the ability to meet current and future customer demand for higher speed access and interconnection services at lower costs and with greater power efficiency.
Mark Vanderhaegen - European Webscale Team @ Nokia
NL-ix leading the way in 800G
Around 3200 fibers were deployed to connect the Amsterdam datacenters directly to the core switches. It was indeed something of a project!
To explain the why’s and how’s of the 800G rollout, we made a video. Jan Hoogenboom, NL-ix CEO, explains the why’s. Dirk Kalkman, our network Architect, explains how the network was built.
This historic step to 800Gbps by NL-ix makes Amsterdam Europe’s first ‘Next-Gen Data Hub’. It strengthens the position of the Netherlands as a Digital Gateway to Europe and as a high-capacity Internet hub, while bringing down total power consumption significantly. It’s a great example of the New Economy that is both digital and sustainable.
Stijn Grove - Director @ Dutch Data Center Association
A big step for NL-ix, a giant leap for Amsterdam
International Internet traffic to Amsterdam has this year exceeded 100 Tbps for the first time, following growth of over 20% for the last five years. It is one of only four global metropolitan markets to have reached these traffic levels, underlining its position as a primary Internet hub. The NL-ix infrastructure improvements strengthen the position of Amsterdam as an Internet hub and the related Digital Mainport function that is of growing economic importance.
Amsterdam is an undisputed global hub of network interconnection. In 2022, international internet bandwidth connected to this metropolitan market breached 100 Tbps for the first time, having grown more than 20% CAGR over the past five years. As one of only four global markets to have attained this level of international network gravity, Amsterdam continues to earn its place as a central node in the worldwide web.
Jon Hjembo - Senior Research Manager @ TeleGeography
The 800G Network in Amsterdam
The redesign of the NL-ix network involved a complete rebuild of existing core locations in the Science Park Campus (Digital Realty) and the South-East Campus (Equinix). A third core location was added (Schiphol Campus, Digital Realty) to improve resilience and expand reach. On each of these locations Nokia’s carrier-class SRS 7750 14s switch was used, increasing the switching capacity of the Amsterdam core to 648 Tbps.
Take a look at the map for an overview of the NL-ix 800G network in Amsterdam and find out what PoP’s now have a 400/800G capability.
RTLnieuws - Nederland heeft het snelste internetknooppunt ter wereld
14 december 2022 11:32
Nederland heeft het snelste internetknooppunt ter wereld. Eigenaar NL-ix heeft de snelheid verachtvoudigd. Dat is nodig om de groei van het internetverkeer bij te benen en het knooppunt klaar te maken voor de toekomst. Daar profiteren bedrijven van maar zorgt er ook voor dat wij straks in steeds hogere kwaliteit series en films kunnen streamen.
Today Amsterdam... next the rest of our fabric!
NL-ix will implement this new technology in Frankfurt in February and Paris and Marseille will follow soon after. More hubs in the NL-ix pan-European network will be upgraded in the following phase.
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Core location Schiphol
More and more companies turn to the airport as their primary datacenter location. Why is this happening?
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Core location Science Park
Over 4000 new fibers to create campus model of Amsterdam Science Park
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Frankfurt
What makes Frankfurt the natural datacenter backup location for Amsterdam?
Read article
For the real tech-hungry people that want to know all about 800G routing, links to some interesting articles:
800GE routing
https://www.nokia.com/networks/what-is-800ge-routing/
Go faster and be greener with 800GE routing
https://www.nokia.com/blog/go-faster-and-be-greener-with-800ge-routing/
FP5 network processor
https://www.nokia.com/networks/technologies/fp5/
Master the unexpected with Nokia FP5: The power of network processor innovation
https://onestore.nokia.com/asset/210681?_ga=2.111071301.1752938359.1668615503-449966460.1651240991
British Telecom, Others Adopt New IP Network Tech - EE Times
https://www.eetimes.com/british-telecom-others-adopt-new-ip-network-tech/