Ciena® Corporation (NASDAQ:CIEN), the network specialist, today announced successful completion of interoperability testing and qualification of its CN 4200™ FlexSelect™ Advanced Services Platform for both IBM’s Geographically Dispersed Parallel Sysplex™ (GDPS®) business continuity solution and Server Time Protocol (STP), the new generation of technology for time synchronization of System Z™mainframe server environments.
The CN 4200 is currently the only GDPS-qualified WDM solution with advanced time-division multiplexing (TDM) capabilities for multiple Inter-System Channel (ISC) links exchanging STP time synchronization messages. The benefit of Ciena’s unique approach is a dramatic reduction in wavelength channel counts, resulting in a lower cost of network connectivity. This Ciena STP feature is being released to support IBM’s STP technology, made generally available (GA) on January 31, 2007, so that WDM network customers can optimize its advantages.
GDPS is a widely-deployed IBM family of solutions used primarily for IBM mainframe servers to provide customers with disaster recovery and continuous application availability capabilities. STP is IBM’s newest generation of GDPS server time protocol synchronization technology, and is designed to allow multiple servers and coupling facilities to maintain synchronization with each other without requiring a Sysplex Timer®. Eliminating the need for Sysplex Timers can extend the distance between GDPS timer site locations from 40 km to up to 100 km for a GDPS/PPRC (Peer to Peer Remote Copy) solution. STP also provides simplification of infrastructure and can help reduce the overall cost of cross-site connectivity. Ciena’s CN 4200 platform provides enterprise organizations and managed connectivity service providers the most efficient and scalable WDM solution for STP and GDPS business continuity applications.
“The ability of Ciena’s CN 4200 to support the coexistence of current GDPS/Sysplex Timer solutions in addition to the new GDPS/STP technology can help ease customer migration from existing to new GDPS server applications,” said R. B. Swift, program director for IBM’s System Z Connectivity Solutions.
The CN 4200 multiplexes ISC signals, including the ISC-3 Peer Mode protocol used in STP applications, along with other data signals, such as Fibre Channel, GbE, FICON and ESCON. The CN 4200 multiplexing capability can reduce the number of wavelengths required to support a typical STP implementation by up to 60 percent, resulting in significant cost savings for recurring monthly fiber lease expenses while providing ample capacity to support future service growth.
“We’re very pleased that our CN 4200 FlexSelect Advanced Services Platform successfully completed the rigorous qualification testing for GDPS applications and STP technology, putting Ciena in a better position to help make these bandwidth-intensive environments as operationally and economically efficient as possible,” said Steve Alexander, chief technology officer at Ciena. “IBM’s qualification of our CN 4200 as the first WDM platform with TDM capabilities qualified for STP, coupled with our role as the specialist in network transition, positions Ciena well to help enterprises and managed service providers get optimal, economical performance from their IBM GDPS solutions as they adopt STP.”
Ciena adds the STP and GDPS qualifications of its CN 4200 platform to an existing series of IBM qualifications in its product portfolio. Specifically, the CN 4200 is also part of the System Storage Proven partner program, and is Metro Mirror qualified. Other IBM-qualified Ciena products include the CN 2000™ Storage Extension Platform, a leading storage-over distance SONET/SDH and GbE solution qualified for Metro Mirror, Global Mirror, z/OS®Global Mirror, Global Copy, Peer to Peer VTS and SVC; and ONLINE Metro™, a carrier-class, multiservice DWDM transport platform that is also GDPS-qualified.
About Ciena’s CN 4200
The CN 4200 FlexSelect Advanced Services Platform is a next-generation multiservice transport and aggregation solution. It features a universal line card with advanced programmable optical port technology – FlexiPort – that can be remotely programmed and provisioned to support any speed, any function, any wavelength and any protocol on any port, including Gigabit Ethernet, ESCON and Fibre Channel. Deployed in enterprise private networks and for carrier-managed services worldwide, the CN 4200 can help deliver cost-effective, flexible options for the extension of storage area networks, remote disk mirroring, remote back-up and other storage networking applications.
About Ciena
Ciena Corporation is the network specialist, focused on expanding the possibilities for its customers' networks while reducing their cost of ownership. The company's systems, software and services target and cure specific network pain points so that telcos, cable operators, governments and enterprises can best exploit the new applications that are driving their businesses forward. For more information, visit www.ciena.com.
Note to Investors
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements are based on information available to the Company as of the date hereof; and Ciena's actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied, due to risks and uncertainties associated with its business, which include the risk factors disclosed in its Report on Form 10-Q, which Ciena filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 2, 2007. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding Ciena's expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future and can be identified by forward-looking words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "should," "will," and "would" or similar words. Ciena assumes no obligation to update the information included in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
