NTT joined eight partners, including IP Infusion, to deliver the IOWN Network Solution (400G), a disaggregated switch and router platform for high-speed inter-data-center connectivity. The solution targets a 50% reduction in network equipment construction and operation costs and a 40% reduction in power consumption, with NTT-AT and IP Infusion handling sales and one-stop support.
The Challenge
Data center traffic continues to climb as generative AI and machine learning workloads scale, driving power consumption into the realm of social concern. Operators need low-cost ways to build high-speed links between data centers and distribute compute, while holding energy use down.
Traditional high-speed data center interconnects rely on tightly integrated network devices with a limited set of optical transceiver options. That model constrains investment efficiency and pushes operators toward software and hardware disaggregation with flexible optics choices.
The Solution
The IOWN Network Solution (400G) provides a switch and router capable of long-distance 400Gbps transmission, built from three disaggregated layers:
- Network OS: software combining NTT and ACCESS/IP Infusion technologies, including the Beluganos OS that NTT developed together with IP Infusion.
- White box switches and routers: hardware from Edgecore, UfiSpace, and other partners, with Broadcom silicon.
- 400G ZR/ZR+ optical transceivers: open-standard optics from FOC and NEC, equipped with NTT Innovative Devices' Photonics-Electronics Convergence devices for low-power, stable transmission.
Customers can mix and match validated combinations of OS, white box, and optics to fit their requirements. Integrating transponder functions inside the switch and router cuts procurement and maintenance costs, power draw, rack space, and construction lead time.
Outcomes
- 50% reduction in construction and operation costs of network equipment.
- 40% reduction in power consumption.
- Simpler, lower-cost inter-data-center networks based on 400G ZR/ZR+ for high-speed, long-distance transmission.
- One-stop delivery from construction through 24/7 maintenance and operation, sold by NTT-AT and IP Infusion.
Why OcNOS
OcNOS gives NTT a production-grade network OS that runs across multiple white box platforms and supports the IPoDWDM and 400G ZR/ZR+ use cases central to the IOWN vision. As Takehiko Kawazoe, Senior Executive Vice President at NTT, put it: "By implementing IOWN, which is a next-generation communication platform with high capacity, low latency, and low-power consumption, we will contribute to realize a well-being society."