As the data centers we rely on to process critical information continue to proliferate, it’s no secret that the need for dark fiber to empower these facilities is growing in tandem. What may be surprising is that the need for new dark fiber networks is as high as ever.
Our own CEO, Jim Nolte, was recently featured in the Fall 2022 issue of 7×24 Magazine. He penned an article focusing on how new dark fiber technology is needed to help data centers reach their full potential. The article looks at how legacy fiber networks were initially put into use in the 1990s for vastly different purposes and how they’re often ill equipped to handle the demands driving data center traffic today, including cloud migration, IoT, automation and more. Nolte looks at the trends and asks, just as David Byrne did in a Talking Heads hit song, “how did we get here”?
View the full article here, or keep reading for the highlights.
Leaving the Legacy Behind
Existing fiber networks often can’t handle the demands being put on them by the trends listed above. While these legacy networks are capable of connecting data centers and IT infrastructure for enterprises, users often experience delays because the quality of those aging networks no longer meets today’s higher standards. With most modern businesses falling into one of two categories — digitally transformed or being well on their way to becoming digitally transformed — they’re increasingly relying on data centers.
Nolte details how the need for more bandwidth brings four major factors to the forefront for IT managers when evaluating existing networks:
- Signal Loss
- Latency
- Route Diversity
- Inventory
The Influence of Emerging Markets
The article goes on to examine how developing data center markets are demonstrating the advantages that new networks provide. For example, the Greater Portland, Oregon, area is one of the fastest growing U.S. data center markets on the West Coast. Bandwidth IG launched a brand-new dark fiber network in Hillsboro this year, and the advantages that the new network delivers for the growing number of data centers in the area haven’t gone unnoticed.
Nolte writes: “Even customers in metros perceived as saturated with terrestrial fiber networks have expressed the need for truly diverse routes at competitive price points, which is driving the development of new dark fiber networks. Businesses operating around the San Francisco Bay area, like in San Jose, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara and even San Francisco, continue to invest in new fiber routes that prove last mile connectivity is still as much a need in these markets as it is in emerging markets such as Greater Portland.”
Bandwidth IG has answered the call for new dark fiber networks in the San Francisco Bay Area with our recent route expansion and with the network launch in the Greater Portland area. Our new network in Greater Atlanta serves data centers with the highest quality networks. We remain committed to serving our customers with new dark fiber networks — purpose built from the ground up — for years to come because we truly believe new networks are the only way to deliver the speed and quality that modern businesses demand.
Click here to read the full article in 7×24 Magazine. To learn more about our networks and view our network maps, click here.