Juniper finishes its BTI Systems data centre interconnect feast

Juniper Networks' January-announced acquisition of BTI Systems is complete, giving the Gin Palace a beefed-up footprint in the data centre interconnect and packet optical markets.

BTI's packet optical transport products – the BTI 7000 and BTI 7800 – ship data centre Metro Ethernet Forum 2.0-certified Ethernet traffic over 10 Gbps, 100 Gbps or 200 Gbps optical connections, and tick off the obligatory software-defined networking (SDN) box.

The agreement gives Juniper a better footing against heavyweight competition like Cisco (collaborating with Ericsson since November 2015), Nokia (now digesting its Alcatel-Lucent acquisition), and Huawei.

As LightReading notes, even Microsoft has its eye on data centre interconnect, and has a research collaboration with Inphi to craft server NICs to plug directly into links up to 80 km long.

Executive Veep and GM for Juniper Development and Innovation, Jonathan Davidson, writes that the company's first order of business will be to integrate BTI Systems' products into a single management architecture.

Among other things, Davidson's post plucks out network automation as a key consideration in the deal. Integrating the Ethernet and optical environments in an automated environment, he writes, is a step towards high-speed service creation.

“BTI Systems' portfolio complements Juniper's IP and Ethernet product portfolio with a richer set of optical capabilities,” he reckons.

Juniper also plans to use BTI Systems' technology to build “evolved open optical line systems”, the post states.

When they announced the deal in January, the companies didn't disclose the sale price, but Juniper's annual report in March put the figure at US$65 million in cash, debt and stock. ®