New hardware helps simplify long distance data disaster recovery

Optovia Corporation, a US-based optical line systems company providing solutions for telecommunications carriers, cable system operators, and corporate enterprises, has announced the availability of its SpanExpress optical amplifier solution. SpanExpress enables enterprises to locate data centers up to 200 kilometers apart “without the cost, complexity and risks associated with mid-span amplification”.

SpanExpress is a deployment-ready, rack-mountable, optical line system that is utilized between the storage devices at the local and remote data centers.

Legacy optical transport solutions rely on the optical signal being boosted periodically along the transmission line and use optical amplifiers to restore signals to their original characteristics when replicating storage traffic over extended distances. The optical signal typically needs to be amplified somewhere in the middle of the span at distances in excess of 80 to 100km, leading to additional capital and operational expenditures, and a less secure and reliable network. However, by using Optovia's SpanExpress for the transport of SAN connectivity, the need for costly and problematic mid-span optical amplifiers is completely eliminated.

"Customers tell us that the level of investment required to build, operate, and maintain secondary data centers further away than 100 kilometers is prohibitive due to the cost and complexity of deploying mid-span optical amplifiers, the total cost of ownership for the network components, and the degree of network availability and reliability required," said Niall Robinson, vice president of marketing for Optovia. "SpanExpress was designed to meet these challenges and accelerate the investment payback period."

•Date: 1st March 2006• Region: US/World • Type: Article •Topic: IT continuity
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