Data traffic has grown exponentially due to the proliferation of mobile phones and new data intensive applications. While often invisible to the end user, multi-tenant data centers are a key component to allow access to this range of data and applications. Each icon on your smart phone represents access to data from different enterprises likely stored at data centers spread across the country with connectivity provided by a range of cloud or carrier service providers.
As demand for connectivity has grown with the proliferation of new applications, what might have started out as a single multi-tenant data center building in a city has grown to include multiple buildings on a campus. In some of the most popular locations for data centers such as Ashburn, Va., or Frankfurt, Germany, data center campuses can include more than 10,000 cross connects spread out over 10 or more buildings. And while the number of cross connects refers to the connections between two companies, if company A is in Building 2 on the campus while company Z is in building 8, implementing the cross connect between A and Z will require multiple individual connections. It is not uncommon to require six hops or more to make the cross connect between the customers.
Implementing the cross connections is still often done manually, involving many steps and individuals. This ranges from processing the work order to obtaining a cable to identifying the physical location(s) for the patch panel to testing the connection and finally documenting the changes in an offline database. These steps are why a typical service level agreement (SLA) for implementation of the cross connect can range from three to seven days. Dynamic fiber cross connect systems are now available that can remotely and automatically perform a cross connect in minutes, allowing significant savings in OpEx for the data center operator.
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