Aqua Comms unveils 400GE transatlantic service for Energy Sciences Network | Computer Weekly

Actively preparing to meet the flood of data coming from upcoming science needs, Energy Sciences Network (ESnet), the high-performance network built to support scientific research, has engaged global subsea connectivity services provider Aqua Comms to supply its first live commercial 400Gbps Ethernet (GE) transatlantic service from London to New York.

Funded by the US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Science and managed by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), ESnet’s so-called “data circulatory system” provides services to more than 50 DOE research sites, including the entire National Laboratory system, its supercomputing facilities and its major scientific instruments, as well as to additional research and commercial networks.

Through ESnet, DOE-funded scientists collaborate on some of the world’s most important scientific challenges, from the origins of the universe to the future of energy and climate science. 

The 400GE Aqua Comms circuit replaces an existing 100GE Aqua Comms New York to London circuit in ESnet’s network. It is based on Ciena’s GeoMesh Extreme submarine network solution, powered by WaveLogic 5 Extreme coherent optics and Manage, Control and Plan (MCP) software capabilities, to support customers’ ever-growing connectivity and bandwidth needs.

“100GE has been the standard for most transatlantic connectivity for several years. The new circuit increases our aggregate transatlantic bandwidth from 400Gbps to 700Gbps,” explained Jon-Paul Herron, ESnet’s department head of network services. “ESnet is actively preparing the network to meet the flood of data coming from all of our upcoming science needs, including the high-luminosity upgrades of CERN’s Large Hadron Collider, as well as the related CERN Data Challenge ’24 (DC24) during the first quarter of next year.” 

Aqua Comms chief commercial officer Chris Bayly said it was proud to be at the forefront of the technology supporting the needs of our customers with high-bandwidth, efficient network services, adding: “As supercomputing requirements continue to grow, we envisage 400Gbps and the transition to spectrum services being more widely consumed by organisations such as ESnet to help accommodate an almost insatiable need for bandwidth.”

Thomas Soerensen, senior director of global submarine sales at Ciena, commented: “Aqua Comms’ network has the scalability, intelligence and efficiency to meet the digital demands of clients like ESnet. 400Gbps capabilities provide a fourfold increase in capacity that’s ideal for high-bandwidth, ‘big science’ applications such as augmented/virtual reality, artificial intelligence and quantum computing.”