Networking technology

Technologies for transport and switching

NetherLight can interconnect various types of technologies for transport and switching of multiple gigabit data streams from one connected party to another:

• SDH/SONET circuits: : 'lightpaths', i.e. end-to-end circuits with dedicated bandwidth. The SURFnet NOC sets up lightpaths for the NetherLight user community upon request. 
• Ethernet services provide flexibility through multiple customer VLANs. They are not available with a guaranteed bandwidth, however. 
• Lambdas.

Core equipment

NetherLight’s core consists of the following equipment:

• The core of NetherLight is the Ciena OME6500 Double Decker, which is an MSPP (Multiservice Provisioning Platform). The OME6500 provides the lightpath cross-connecting and multiplexing (mapping GbE streams into 10G lambdas) functionality based on SDH/SONET technology.
• Ethernet switching: Nortel MERS8600 (for 1GbE and 10GbE connectivity) and the Layer 2 Services Switch (L2SS) module inside the OME6500DD. This L2SS card provides layer adaptation between SONET/SDH services and VLANs within the OME chassis and is currently being used in NetherLight’s configuration for KAUST. The Layer 2 switching of the MERS8600 is based on the 802.1ah (PBB) standard, which ensures that NetherLight is VLAN agnostic.

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