News | February 2, 2011

OFC/NFOEC To Feature Expanded Data Center Programming

Data communication programs kick off with pre-show webinar on transitioning from copper to fiber

The organizers of the Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exhibition/National Fiber Optic Engineers Conference OFC/NFOEC , taking place March 6 – 10 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, recently announced expanded program offerings in the areas of high-speed data centers, optical internetworking and data communications for its 2011 conference and exhibition. With data rates increasing and copper nearing the end of its bandwidth limits, fiber optics is becoming more important in local area networks (LAN). Many of the top optical LAN vendors, including Cisco, Corning, Draka, HP, Juniper and IBM, will be on hand at OFC/NFOEC presenting new technologies and products. Data center and cloud computing experts from Alcatel-Lucent, Facebook, Hitachi, Google and Microsoft will cover the latest advances in these fields, while leading industry analysts will offer perspectives on the state of the data communications market.

OFC/NFOEC content in the areas of optical internetworking, data centers and data communications are highlighted below and available at www.ofcnfoec.org/datacom

PRE-SHOW

Free Webinar on Data Center Cabling – Transitioning from Copper to Fiber
Wednesday, Feb. 2
12:30 – 1:30 p.m. EST
Speaker: Lisa Huff, chief technology analyst,
DataCenterStocks.com and principal analyst, Discerning Analytics

This webinar will provide an overview of data center cabling options covering copper structured, copper interconnect and fiber cabling as well as a cost analysis of copper versus fiber.

Registration is available on the OFC/NFOEC website The webinar will be archived and available for download after Feb. 2 at www.ofcnfoec.org/datacom.

ON-SITE

  • Short Courses
    • Data Center Cabling – Transitioning from Copper to Fiber taught by Huff, a Certified Data Center Professional with more than 25 years experience in the industry. This is a half-day course that builds on the information presented in the free webinar listed above, providing more in-depth material.
    • Data Center Networking 101 taught by Cedric Lam and Hong Liu of Google. This course covers both intra-datacenter and inter-datacenter networks, the challenges facing datacenter operators in the next three to four years, the need for energy-efficient datacenter networking technologies, and the desirable optical networking technologies to sustain the growth of Internet computing applications.
  • Exhibit Floor Programming
    • Market Watch This year, Market Watch, features a panel discussion on Data Center: Traffic and Technology Drivers with speakers from Cisco, Juniper Networks, Facebook, Huawei Symantec and Brocade.
    • Ethernet Alliance Program – This program features a panel on New Storage Technologies for Greater IT Efficiency and Flexibility. Virtualization is increasing the requirement and opportunity to share more of the data center infrastructure. Enhancements to Ethernet enable the converging of FC SANs to a common network technology with Data Center Bridging (DCB). Combined with storage virtualization, virtualization and enhanced Ethernet deliver new opportunities for increased efficiency and flexibility to address today's and tomorrow's IT challenges. The program features speakers from Cisco Systems, CommScope, Spirent, Intel Corp., NetApp, Brocade and Opnext.
    • Optical Internetworking Forum – This forum includes two panels – "400G vs. 1 Terabit: Market Needs and Technical Challenges" and "Next Generation High Speed Networks" – featuring speakers from Alcatel-Lucent, Deutsche Telekom, Infinera and more.
    • Optical Business Forum – More than ever, the pace of business has accelerated requiring enterprise operations to significantly increase the speed – and capacity –of transactions in order to succeed and keep pace with the needs of customers. This forum will cover the latest advances in optical business service, including data center connectivity.
  • Exhibit Hall The OFC/NFOEC Exhibit Hall features more than 500 companies, including familiar data communications vendors like Avago Technologies, CommScope, Corning, Juniper, OPS, The Siemon Company and others.
  • Plenary Session One of three dynamic speakers for the show's most well-attended event, Alan Gara, IBM Fellow and Blue Gene Architect at IBM's T.J. Watson Research Center will discuss Supercomputing's Symbiotic Relationship with Advanced Optics at the OFC/NFOEC Plenary Session.
  • Technical Programming
    • Special Symposium: Meeting the Computercom Challenge: Components and Architectures for Computational Systems and Data Centers This symposium focuses on the components and architectures that will enable the deployment of massive optical networks underpinning next-generation Exa-scale computers and highly interconnected data centers.
    • Research Presentations OFC/NFOEC features a variety of technical presentations covering optical networking and data communications. Topics covered will include optical interconnects, cloud computing, optical network deployment and more. A sampling of these presentations includes:
      • Networks for Large Data Centers, Donn Lee, Facebook, USA
      • Optical Interconnection for High-Speed Router, Shinji Nishimura, Hitachi Ltd., Japan
      • Energy-Efficient Exascale Computing Applications with Optical Interconnects, John Shalf, Lawrence Berkeley Natl. Lab, USA
      • Cloud Computing over Telecom Network, Dominique Verchere, Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs France, France
      • Microsoft Data Center Connectivity and Requirement on Optical Networks, Al Greenberg, Microsoft, USA
      • Google Optical Network Deployment, Vijay Vusirikala, Google, USA
      • Recent Advances in MMF Technology for Data Networks, Denis Molin, Draka Communications, France
      • Optical Interconnects in Future Servers, Jeffrey Kash, IBM T. J. Watson Res. Ctr., USA
      • Low-Power, high-density Optical Interconnects to the Processor, Ashok Krishnamoorthy, Oracle/Sun Microsystems Labs, USA
      • Optical Interconnects for High Performance Computing, Marc A. Taubenblatt, IBM T. J. Watson Res. Ctr ., USA

Full conference program with abstracts is available at http://www.ofcnfoec.org/home/Program.aspx.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Analysts and members of the press who wish to attend OFC/NFOEC 2011 should register on the OFC/NFOEC website, or contact Angela Stark, 202.416.1443 or astark@osa.org.

About OFC/NFOEC
Since 1975, the Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exposition (OFC) has provided an annual backdrop for the optical communications field to network and share research and innovations. In 2005, OFC joined forces with the National Fiber Optic Engineers Conference (NFOEC) creating the largest and most comprehensive international event for optical communications. By combining an exposition of more than 500 companies, with a unique program of peer-reviewed technical programming and special focused educational sessions, OFC/NFOEC provides an unparalleled opportunity reaching every audience from service providers to optical equipment manufacturers and beyond.

OFC/NFOEC, www.ofcnfoec.org, is managed by the Optical Society (OSA) and co-sponsored by OSA, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers/Communications Society (IEEE/ComSoc) and the IEEE Photonics Society. Acting as a non-financial technical co-sponsor is Telcordia Technologies, Inc.

SOURCE: OFC/NFOEC