The evolution of data center interconnect (DCI) solutions

What is data center interconnect?

Data center interconnect (DCI) technology connects multiple data centers together. Traditionally, data center interconnect solutions were almost exclusively used as part of disaster recovery and business continuity plans. This way, data could be quickly restored from another data center in the event of failure or another cause of data loss. Eventually, data center connectivity would come to increasingly be used not only for replication and backup but also for optimizing cross-location workloads.

DCI technology empowers enterprises to optimize their data workloads more effectively in several ways. These include sharing both physical and virtual resources across multiple locations as well as load balancing. In data center interconnect solutions, load balancing is all about effectively distributing network traffic across servers. This is made more efficient when you are able to combine the resources of multiple data centers using data center interconnect technologies.

Another way DCI helps optimize workloads across data centers is that it makes it easier to apply quality of service and other policies. Given that much sensitive data, such as financial transactions and personally identifiable data, is generally stored in data centers, data security is crucial. With advanced networking solutions, in-flight encryption and robust access controls can be applied to data center interconnect operations. This is key for ensuring compliance in the context of transferring data between data centers, especially as distances increase and borders are crossed.

Finding the sweet spot between reach and simplicity for data center interconnect solutions

The further apart data centers are, the more important high-performance data center interconnect solutions become to minimize latency. About 90% of all DCI solutions cover a range of 10-80 km, a common distance within a metro area. This means that short to medium range networking solutions have been good enough so far. However, this may not always be the case as some enterprises and internet exchanges will increasingly look to interconnect data centers across regions and borders.

After being proven effective in extending the reach of telecom operators, enterprises have increasingly turned to DWDM for data center interconnect solutions as well. This is especially the case when high performance is important. However, traditional monolithic  DWDM-based solutions could be considered a bit overkill in terms of cost and complexity for a data center environment. Not to mention their chassis-based form isn’t exactly a natural fit with the box switches and rack-mountable servers used in typical data centers. 

This is why  smarter data center interconnect solutions combine the reach of telecom-grade DWDM solutions with the form factor and simplicity of in-house networking infrastructure. For instance, transceivers plugged directly into switches paired with compact open line systems are simple and tailored to match existing data center infrastructure.

Increased productivity and cost-efficiency crucial for data center connectivity

Manual administration of data center interconnect operations can be labor-intensive, error-prone and slow. As a result, DCI solutions will increasingly focus on reduced complexity and increased automation. Open APIs serve as a key enabler for automation by allowing for increased flexibility, central management and custom scripting and applications. This paves the way for decreasing complexity, which makes provisioning, maintenance and other fundamental operations simpler.

Lost productivity due to manual administration has a certain indirect negative effect on cost efficiency. But that’s not the only cost concern for data center interconnect setups. Cost efficiency also becomes a challenge as more and more data is transmitted between data centers via DCI. One key challenge is ensuring costs do not increase at the same rate as bandwidth. This requires optimizing performance with WDM and related technologies as well as lower power consumption and smaller footprints. All of this is crucial for ensuring the lowest possible cost per bit for data center interconnect solutions.

Higher bandwidth requirements driving DCI upgrades today and tomorrow

Enterprise data centers and internet exchanges are experiencing rapid growth in bandwidth demand for data center interconnect solutions. This is driven by the continued rise in data volumes associated with big data, AI, cloud computing and content delivery, as well as the increasing need for redundancy, security and efficient traffic exchange between networks. These trends are placing substantial pressure on existing infrastructure, prompting both enterprises and internet exchanges to prioritize upgrades to 100G, 400G and 800G to ensure reliable and future-proof connectivity.

The introduction of standards like 400ZR and its evolution, 800ZR, developed by the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF), directly address these needs. Both standards provide ultra-high-speed connectivity in compact, pluggable form factors that are ideal for cost-effective, high-capacity links typically spanning distances up to around 80–120 km.

400ZR and 800ZR emphasize interoperability between hardware from different vendors, enabling more open, flexible and simplified network deployments. Enterprises adopting these 400G and 800G standards benefit from reduced complexity, lower operational costs and improved scalability, solving the data center interconnect challenges referenced above.

Make the data center interconnect upgrade path simpler with the right open line system

Instead of trying to decide whether to upgrade to 100G or 400G now or to 400G or 800G later, enterprises can make the upgrade path simpler with an open line system that supports 100G, 400G and 800G connectivity. This opens the door to a lower total cost of ownership for data center interconnect operations and provides excellent flexibility.

 Learn more about Smartoptics DCI solutions built around open line systems with support for 100G, 400G and 800G. Discover “A smarter way to interconnect data centers” in our hands-on guide.