Optovia Corp. has unveiled technology that could make it easier for data centers to replicate data over long distances.
Optovia's SpanExpress optical amplifier solution eliminates intermediate amplification sites between primary and secondary data centers, allowing data centers to be located as much as 200 kilometers apart without the need for mid-span amplification. Optical signals typically must be amplified every 80-100 km.
"In my opinion, Optovia is groundbreaking," said Enterprise Strategy Group analyst Brian Garrett. "Figuring out how to make light travel over distances up to 200 km without amplification is near rocket science in my opinion."
"Users and service providers trying to extend replication and tape vaulting beyond metro distances of 100 km can now use Optovia to reduce the cost and risk of renting optical amplication from a third party," Garrett said. "Optovia makes it easier to deploy longer distance DR, but in my opinion the cost savings are a bigger benefit than being easier."
With technology from companies such as EMC, IBM, Cisco and McData supporting synchronous storage over distances of 190-200 km, Optovia marketing vice president Niall Robinson said the time is right for the four-year-old startup's technology to help create super SANs.
Robinson said SpanExpress eliminates EDFA intermediate repeater sites, which cost about $25,000 each plus $2,000 a month in site costs. Additionally, SpanExpress also helps save on network costs by enabling flexibility in negotiations and site locations, less management time with direct monitoring, a 42% reduction in outage minutes, greater security, and reduced mean time to recovery.
Robinson said SpanExpress costs less than two EDFA sites, which puts the price at somewhere under $50,000. SpanExpress replaces two or more EDFA sites. Robinson showed two scenarios under which SpanExpress reduced costs by $100,000 to $300,000.
"Customers tell us that the level of investment required to build, operate, and maintain secondary data centers further away than 100 kilometers is prohibitive," Robinson said. "SpanExpress was designed to meet these challenges and accelerate the investment payback period."
SpanExpress is available from ADVA and other resellers. Product installations will begin next month.
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