Windstream joins Ciena, Coriant and Infinera in SDN showcase at MEF17 to highlight service orchestration

Windstream and its key optical networking partners Ciena, Coriant and Infinera are going to take part in the MEF17 Proof of Concept (PoC) Showcase, illustrating SDN-enabled multivendor orchestration capabilities.

This collaborative project is another way Windstream can build on its SDN orchestrated wavelength solution—SDNow – to demonstrate intent-based, on-demand automation of wavelength services in a multivendor, multiplatform and multidomain environment.

During the event, Windstream will leverage multidomain service orchestration, SDN controller software provided by the company’s vendor partners and live connectivity to Windstream’s 150,000 mile, fiber-optic network.

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The PoC will demonstrate end-to-end activation—turning up and down—of Windstream’s SDNow transport solutions of 10G bandwidth on-demand.

“This collaborative effort—using multiple hardware platforms orchestrated in real-time via multi-domain service orchestration with APIs to underlying domain controllers—will demonstrate how end-users can take advantage of maximum network control and access to agile, on-demand bandwidth solutions, as well as simplified and accelerated service delivery using minimal human touchpoints,” said Joe Harding, EVP and enterprise CMO for Windstream Wholesale, in a release.

SDNow, which is focused on its optical layer, is Windstream’s first foray into implementing SDN into its broader network domain. Within the multivendor environment, the service provider created with its partners, Windstream uses its optical network as a programmable resource to accelerate the delivery of optical wavelength services.

By using a DevOps-style approach to automation development enables the company to abstract the complexity of service delivery and offers a simplified view of the multivendor optical layer.

Currently available in five major third-party carrier neutral data centers in Chicago, Dallas, Miami, Atlanta and Ashburn, Virginia, Windstream plans to introduce additional services and locations in 2017 and 2018, integrating additional third-party SDN controllers and enabling service orchestration across multiple layers of the Windstream network.

Windstream sees an opportunity for its wholesale group to leverage SDNow so that content and carrier customers can automate service requests.