Merit Network uses ADVA 100G Metro

This connectivity provides Merit Network's community of research and education (R&E) organizations with dramatically increased speeds to access the Internet2 national high-speed backbone, which is connected to Merit Network's fiber ring in Chicago. As Michigan's only access to Internet2, this connectivity is vital for Merit Network R&E Members that wish to collaborate on bandwidth-intensive national and international science projects. Stretching across 800 km of fiber, the ADVA 100G Metro transports data from Michigan to Merit's Chicago fiber-optic ring to get to the Internet2 network without any regeneration. This distance is a first for the ADVA 100G Metro direct detect technology in a commercial network.

"Our Membership community features some of the world's leading research universities, who are continually pushing the boundaries of science and exploring new methods of educational collaboration. To succeed here requires network performance and capacity on a very large scale," said Don Welch, president and CEO, Merit Network. "The ADVA 100G Metro removes any limits to our Members in Michigan, ensuring they can participate on any scientific research project, whether it be national or even global. This is critical for Merit and our Members, especially when we're discussing the exchange of petabytes of data. Thanks to the team at ADVA Optical Networking, Merit is able to continually scale our network to outpace the needs of our Membership. That's why we've been a customer for over 10 years."

The increased capacity to Merit Network's core also bolsters its Members' data access to Tier 1 Internet and peering connections with content providers. Additionally, the ADVA 100G Metro enables Merit Network to support a significant portion of Members' "On-Net" traffic over the upgraded core network path. As a key value, Merit Network offers free bandwidth for data exchange between Merit Members and Member sites that does not leave the Merit backbone in Michigan. As a result, the majority of Member traffic stays On-Net at significant savings.

Merit Network's deployment of the ADVA 100G Metro comes rapidly after completion of a new 10G network in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, one of the final sections of its REACH-3MC infrastructure. The ADVA FSP 3000 has been used extensively throughout REACH-3MC, helping to connect over 200 R&E organizations across 3,600 km of fiber. Merit Network has worked closely with the team at ADVA Optical Networking since 2003 and has thoroughly tested each product at the company's Atlanta campus, including the ADVA 100G Metro. This testing often proves invaluable, ensuring in-depth understanding of the equipment and how it will operate in live network environments. As such, there are no hidden unknowns.

"Our team doesn't just build technology, it builds communities, it builds trust. Our team builds the foundation for our customers to succeed," commented John Scherzinger, senior vice president, North America sales, ADVA Optical Networking. "That's why our relationship with the team at Merit Network is so strong. This is an organization that cares about its community; that cares about providing its community with a network that enables them to be a key part of a global digital society. For over 10 years we've worked side-by-side with Merit Network to drive their infrastructure forward, to scale their network with community demand. With the ADVA 100G Metro we've helped take REACH-3MC to the next level, one that will usher in a new era of collaboration and discovery."