ISP Glide Upgrade London Data Centre Network to 9.6Tbps Speed

UK ISP Glide Group, which is currently extending their full fibre broadband network (leased lines and FTTP etc.) to serve more homes and businesses, has announced that they’ve completed a network upgrade of their London datacentre ring – pushing its capability to 9.6Tbps (Terabits) using Juniper PTX series routers.

The provider currently has three datacentres in London, which were connected in a ring topology using two pairs of dark fibre and the two pairs of fibre were lit using 100 Gigabit optical equipment, creating 200 Gigabit of capacity. Glide interconnects with some of the largest content providers in the world at these locations, like Google, Amazon, Netflix and Meta.

As part of Glide core network capacity planning, the company recently identified that traffic requirements on their network were growing 15% year-on-year. With this information, the ISP chose to upgrade their London datacentre ring from 200Gigabit to 800Gigabit to give them 1.6Tbps of traffic out of each data centre location, enabling them to accommodate the bandwidth demands of today and the future.

One of the main advantages of the Juniper PTX series platform they chose is the 400Gigabit capable ports. This coupled with Glide’s Dark Fibre ring enables them to simply change the optical equipment on the end of the links, giving them “4x the bandwidth instantly.”

Glide have recently been increasing capacity at the edge of its network with the ‘Fibre Cities‘ program, replacing monolithic circuits for its own Dark Fibre. Allowing them to “connect end-user premises to their network at whatever speed they like” (e.g. from 1Gps all the way through to 100Gbps if needed).

Sean Lowry, Glide’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO), told ISPreview:

“Our network infrastructure upgrade is a crucial step towards digitally empowering our businesses users, students, and residents in the area. By improving the speed, reliability, and security of our network, we are creating a strong foundation for innovation and growth. This upgrade will enable our users to access digital resources and services seamlessly, collaborate with each other effortlessly, and stay connected with the global community effectively. We are committed to leveraging technology to enhance the quality of life and the economic vitality of our region, and this upgrade is a significant investment in that mission.”

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