The demand for high-performance, scalable and cost-effective network infrastructure is growing faster than ever. As enterprises, service providers and data centre operators navigate increasing traffic loads, traditional networking solutions often fall short—burdened by vendor lock-in, costly upgrades and inflexible architectures.
Open networking offers a disaggregated, vendor-neutral approach that allows organisations to build agile and future-ready networks. By combining Smartoptics’ open optical networking solutions with IP Infusion’s whitebox switching, routing hardware and OcNOS software, businesses can achieve a fully open, scalable and cost-effective network infrastructure.
The Rise of Open Networking
Historically, networking has been dominated by closed, proprietary systems, where both hardware and software were tightly integrated from a single vendor. While this approach ensured compatibility, it also limited flexibility, increased costs and restricted innovation.
Open networking disrupts this model by allowing organisations to decouple software and hardware, enabling them to choose best-of-breed solutions for their specific needs. This shift empowers businesses to:
- Reduce reliance on single vendors
- Optimise performance with customised solutions
- Scale networks more cost-effectively
- Adopt the latest innovations without proprietary restrictions
By leveraging Smartoptics for optical networking and IP Infusion for advanced networking software and whitebox hardware, organisations can fully embrace the power of open networking while ensuring seamless integration, high performance and future-proof scalability.
The Open Optical Networking Advantage
Smartoptics is a leader in open optical networking solutions, providing cost-effective, flexible and high-capacity optical transport for enterprise and service provider networks.
Key Benefits of Smartoptics Solutions:
- Disaggregated DWDM Solutions
- Smartoptics’ open line systems enable businesses to integrate high-speed optical networking with their existing infrastructure without being locked into a single vendor.
- Pluggable Optics & Embedded DWDM
- Instead of relying on bulky transponders, Smartoptics utilises pluggable optics like 400GZR and 400GZR+, making it easier to scale and upgrade networks efficiently.
- Seamless Integration with IP Networks
- Designed for interoperability, Smartoptics solutions integrate smoothly with routing and switching platforms, making them an ideal fit for open networking environments.
- Reduced Power Consumption & Cost Efficiency
- Compared to traditional optical solutions, Smartoptics’ approach delivers significant energy savings, lower operational costs, and a smaller physical footprint.
IP Infusion: Whitebox Networking & OcNOS
While Smartoptics handles high-capacity optical transport, IP Infusion (IPI) provides a complete whitebox networking solution, including switching, routing hardware and OcNOS—a carrier-grade Network Operating System (NOS).
Key Benefits of IP Infusion’s Whitebox & OcNOS Solutions:
- Whitebox Switching & Routing Hardware
- IPI is not just an OcNOS provider; they supply high-performance whitebox hardware, offering complete, cost-effective alternatives to traditional vendor-locked solutions.
- Pre-Configured Bundles for Easy Deployment
- IPI provides bundled solutions that include hardware, software and automation tools, streamlining deployment and reducing configuration complexity.
- Carrier-Grade Reliability & Performance
- OcNOS delivers robust, scalable networking capabilities for both enterprise and service provider environments, ensuring high availability and low-latency performance.
- Advanced Automation & SDN Capabilities
- With built-in automation, telemetry and Software-Defined Networking (SDN) features, OcNOS simplifies network management, monitoring and scaling.
- Seamless Integration with Open Optical Networks
- OcNOS is fully compatible with Smartoptics’ open networking solutions, allowing for a truly disaggregated yet highly efficient network architecture.
Accelerating 400G Upgrades with IPI & Smartoptics
As demand for high-speed data transport grows, organisations are looking to upgrade to 400G. IPI’s OcNOS DC solutions, combined with whitebox switching and Smartoptics’ 400GZR/ZR+ optics, provide a future-ready approach for data centres needing scalable, high-performance network upgrades.
How IPI & Smartoptics Enable 400G Scalability:
- Optimised for Data Centre Interconnect (DCI)
- Supports 400G upgrades while lowering power consumption and overall costs.
- Whitebox Switching & Routing for High-Speed Networks
- A fully open solution for leaf-spine architectures and hyperscale data centres.
- Cost-Effective Scaling
- Compared to traditional vendor-specific solutions, whitebox and open optical networks lower both CapEx and OpEx.
How IDS Ties It All Together
At IDS, we deliver the complete open networking solution by integrating the best of Smartoptics, IP Infusion, and disaggregated networking technologies. Transitioning to an open, scalable, and high-performance network demands expertise, strategic implementation, and ongoing support—that’s where IDS comes in.
As the conduit between leading-edge solutions and real-world deployment, IDS:
- Evaluates your networking needs to design the right open networking strategy.
- Provides best-of-breed solutions, combining optical transport, software-defined networking, and whitebox hardware.
- Delivers seamless integration between Smartoptics’ optical transport and IP Infusion’s whitebox switching, routing, and OcNOS software.
- Ensures long-term scalability, so your infrastructure can grow as your business does.
- Offers expert support to help you navigate the transition to open networking with confidence.
With IDS, you’re not just adopting open networking—you’re leveraging a trusted partner that ensures your infrastructure is efficient, cost-effective, and ready for the future.
Contact us to learn how we can help you design and deploy a high-performance, scalable open network that meets your business needs.
