The Challenge
Race Communications had outgrown its Layer 2 ring design. A ring dictates the path traffic takes, and Race needed a flexible IP/MPLS network able to carry residential and business fiber growth across California. In 2023 the operator introduced California’s first residential 10G fiber internet service, and its plant today reaches more than 2.6 million feet of fiber optic line. Whatever replaced the rings had to interoperate cleanly with the equipment already in the ground, and keep interoperating with it while the new build went up around it.
The Solution
Race selected OcNOS SP as the aggregation platform for the new IP/MPLS build. Two things decided it. OcNOS implements the protocols Race was already running, so the design did not have to bend to suit the software. And an open networking platform let Race choose its own hardware and plan against predictable lead times for it.
Outcomes
- Migration by site, not by flag day. The legacy L2 ring network and the new IP/MPLS aggregation layer interoperate, so Race converts sites on its own schedule while customers stay in service.
- No protocol rewrite. The new aggregation layer speaks the same protocols the team had already implemented, which keeps the operational model the engineers know.
- Open networking economics. Hardware availability, equipment pricing, lead times, support, and professional services all weighed in favor of the open platform rather than against it.
- Headroom to 2030. The aggregation layer is sized for Race’s 2030 target of more than 350,000 homes and businesses connected, so capacity arrives site by site.
Why IP Infusion
“IP Infusion was the natural choice, given the flexibility of hardware availability, but far more importantly, due to the robust implementation of the protocols Race already had implemented,” said Carlos Alcantar, CTO for Race Communications. “Even with an open networking solution, we received solid protocol implementations, good lead times and support, amazing professional services and good equipment pricing.”