All businesses are having to respond to rising demands on their networks as more people are using more computer-intensive applications and services such as cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) – and the world of research is no exception to this change.
Deutsches Forschungsnetz (DFN), Germany’s national research and education network, has embarked on a network upgrade to gain higher bandwidth, increased network capacity and reduced power consumption.
As the developer and operator of the communications infrastructure linking universities and research institutes in Germany, DFN is regarded as playing a vital role in fostering growth for the broader scientific community across the country.
By providing high-throughput connectivity, DFN aims to ensure that researchers can access “seamlessly” critical resources such as supercomputers and large-scale data repositories, enabling faster and more efficient collaboration.
This is seen as particularly vital for projects that require extensive data transfers or collaboration with international research institutions. DFN operates not only nationally, but also connects to European and global scientific networks and the general Internet via high-performance exchange points.
Established in 1984 as the Association to Promote a German Research and Education Network, the DFN Association is responsible for the operation and expansion of the German research network and related IT services. It offers a suite of services designed to meet the evolving needs of the scientific research community.
The DFN Association operates the national research and education network, as well as develops the communication infrastructure for universities, research institutes and R&D companies across Germany, connecting approximately 850 locations throughout the country. It is considered one of the largest and most powerful non-commercial networks in the world with a total length of 10,250 km of optical fibre in the backbone and a multi-terabit core network spanning 65 core network locations.
The infrastructure upgrade of the core network has seen DFN select Nokia to swap out existing equipment and provide IP core network routers to 10 locations in Germany. The upgrade will increase connectivity immediately from DFN’s current 100G interfaces to 400G, with runway to further upgrade to 800G as demand warrants. Nokia has deployed its scalable 7750 Service Routers which are based on the company’s FP5 routing silicon.
The installation is said to have resulted in higher bandwidth, increased network capacity, and power consumption in the network reduced by up to 75%. It also includes a suite of professional services, training and technical consultancy throughout the deployment and operation. DFN said that all existing applications were successfully migrated into Nokia’s service routers ahead of deployment.
“Nokia’s solution offered the performance and scalability we need for our IP core network in Germany, and the results speak for themselves,” said Stefan Piger, head of network and communication services at DFN.
“With the implemented solution, we are already equipped for 800G and can now further scale and expand our services according to the requirements of our participants in research and higher education in Germany. We are very satisfied with the collaboration with Nokia and the results achieved so far.”
Matthieu Bourguignon, senior vice-president of network infrastructure, Europe, at Nokia, added: “As the developer and operator of the communications infrastructure linking universities and research institutes in Germany, DFN plays a vital role in fostering growth for the broader scientific community across the country.
“This collaboration with world-class research and education network underscores the value of our IP routing technology in providing a robust, agile and adaptable core network with the headroom to scale efficiently into the future.”