AMS-IX deploys open networking with Pluribus Networks
The Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMS-IX) has selected open networking and software-defined networking provider Pluribus Networks as a key provider in its multi-site network modernization project.
As part of the contract, the Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMS-IX) is deploying Pluribus' Netvisor ONE operating system and Adaptive Cloud Fabric. These work in conjunction with Dell EMC's Open Networking hardware.
AMS-IX currently operates seven independent internet exchange around the world. Its largest exchange in Amsterdan comprises 14 points of presence (PoPs), more than 870 autonomous systems, and more than 1150 ports. These generate as much as 6.3 Tb per second during peak times.
As a result, its networks and services face increasing demand. The company determined the answer was to move to open networking solutions and software-defined networking (SDN), which could meet performance, automation, flexibility, and cost-efficiency requirements for its Amsterdam platform.
"Innovation and high-performance services are the foundation of Amsterdam Internet Exchange; it's what they built their reputation on, and why they've led the interconnect market for 25 years," explains Pluribus Networks chief executive officer Kumar Srikantan.
"This focus on innovation and new approaches led the team to understand the compelling advantages that can be realized once the software is disaggregated from the hardware.
"Their shift to open networking, with Pluribus software driving automation across the entire fabric, is now delivering the agility and flexibility they need to meet customer requirements well into the future."
MS-IX deployed the Pluribus Linux-based Netvisor ONE network operating system (NOS), featuring the Adaptive Cloud Fabric (ACF) running on Dell EMC Open Networking Switches. These create an SDN-controlled network fabric that federates together a large number of geographically distributed switches to appear as one logical switch, radically simplifying network operations.
Additionally, Pluribus controllerless architecture harnesses processing power in switches that are already deployed. According to Pluribus, this distributed approach to automation lowers costs by eliminating the expense of multiple controllers while improving performance.
AMS-IX network operators can see and troubleshoot the entire fabric from any site and any switch.
AMS-IX also deployed Pluribus Insight Analytics, which leverages embedded Netvisor monitoring telemetry and packet flow data sources to enable pervasive visibility across the network, eliminating the need for expensive probes or complex monitoring overlay networks.
With end-to-end visibility into all connections that traverse the entire data center fabric, AMS-IX is able to analyse and compare actual versus desired performance and implement corrective actions, such as changes to policy or rerouting traffic to implement on-demand changes to the infrastructure.
AMS-IX network engineer Bart Myszkowski says that cost savings associated with open networking are compelling, but it's about more than that.
"For our team, it is the fabric-wide visibility together with the SDN automation that make the Pluribus Networks solution so valuable to us day in and day out. With this deployment we continue to stay at the cutting edge of networking, further improving network operations and management.
Pluribus Networks is delivering an open, next generation software defined network fabric for modern data centers, multi-site data centers and distributed cloud environments.
