Technology from ADVA Optical Networking is helping to ensure the high-speed transportation of data on one of Europe's largest research networks. A total of 4,000 kilometers long, the PIONIER optical fiber network, part of the nationwide Polish Optical Internet initiative, connects five supercomputer centers in Poland, including Poznan, Warsaw, Gdansk, Wroclaw and Krakow, and 21 academic Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs). ADVA supplied the optical transmission technology for the network with its Fiber Service Platform (FSP) 3000. The network is owned and managed by the Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Center (PSNC).

Installation and maintenance work on the PIONIER network is being carried out by ADVA's partner, ALMA, a Polish systems integrator. To date, 2,600 kilometers of the optical network have been installed, while in a recent project phase, an additional wavelength was added to the main backbone and the network expanded by an additional 1,400 km.

PIONIER is driving the direction of Poland's optical fiber network deployment. The fast 10-Gigabit Ethernet speed enables researchers to operate and share bandwidth-intensive applications such as Grid computing, distributed storage, distributed computing architectures and optical virtual private networks (VPNs). PIONIER not only provides students and university staff with a convenient platform for distance learning, it also allows them to conduct research in virtual laboratories, to work in online study groups and to use multimedia streams, remote visualization tools and to control radio telescopes. The PIONIER network is one of the most powerful academic research and education networks in Europe to date. It is connected to pan-European research network, GÉANT2, and extends its own connection to all neighboring academic networks, including the Deutsches Forschungsnetz (DFN) in Germany and CESNET in the Czech Republic.

"Through the PIONIER program, we are prepared to take a leading position Europe-wide in terms of our optical network infrastructure," says Maciej Stroinski, technical director of PSNC. "Linking academic MANs with the PIONIER network using systems from ADVA marks a milestone in Poland's development as an information society."

Brian P. McCann, ADVA's chief marketing and strategy officer added, "As a private, non-commercial project, PIONIER is unique throughout Europe, and the country is clearly focused on building a better future. Without a doubt, this dynamic, forward-looking initiative offers an inspiring example to companies and other organizations, and shows how tomorrow's challenges can be addressed by taking an open and flexible approach. It is rewarding to see that ADVA technology delivers the performance and flexibility needed to support this project."