ADVA FSP 3000 Enables Secure Connection of zEnterprise to IBM Bladecenter via Secure Low-Latency WDM Systems

ADVA Optical Networking has announced the successful qualification of the ADVA FSP 3000 for the IBM zEnterprise Bladecenter Extension. The IBM zEnterprise platform, which includes zBX, is the new infrastructure for extending System z qualities of service and management capabilities across a set of integrated, fit-for-purpose POWER7 and IBM System x compute elements. This extension is highly relevant for enterprise applications such as business continuity, disaster recovery and cloud computing infrastructure. In these environments low-latency, high-capacity and secure data transmission links between systems are critical.
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The zBX is designed with integrated IBM certified components, tested and packaged together by IBM. Highest system availability is a key objective of the zBX. A typical solution has various levels of protection and hardware redundancy, including the power infrastructure, the rack mounted network switches, the ADVA FSP 3000, all power and switch units in the BladeCenter chassis and redundant cabling for support and data connections to the zEnterprise CPC (z196 or z114).

“We see a strong demand for secure high-performance connectivity solutions in the data center space”, said Christoph Glingener, chief technology officer at ADVA Optical Networking. “Financial institutions, Fortune 500 companies and health care providers are only a few examples of enterprises that cannot afford any application downtime, any loss of mission-critical data, and can certainly not afford the theft of sensitive data via fiber tapping devices. The ADVA FSP 3000 has a market leading feature set for data center applications, including a state-of-the-art security suite with inflight encryption that is now also available in the IBM zBX environment.”

“This qualification is the result of close cooperation with IBM,” explained Todd Bundy, application and solution management director, enterprise, at ADVA Optical Networking. “We have always focused on introducing and supporting IBM technologies and protocols such as InfiniBand, FICON and Data Center Bridged Ethernet. Together with advanced features like high bandwidth physical layer encryption it represents real investment protection for customers who already have ADVA Optical Networking solutions not only in IBM mainframe environments but also in applications like real time stock trading or data replication.”

The ADVA FSP 3000 is a scalable Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) system specifically designed for large enterprises and service providers that require a flexible, cost-effective system that will multiplex, transport and protect high-speed data, storage, voice and video applications over fiber optic networks.