Ekinops has announced the launch of the C700HC chassis, a hybrid optical transport system engineered to bridge service provider central office and data center interconnect (DCI) environments. The C700HC is positioned as the first platform in a new class of equipment that combines key attributes from traditional wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) systems and DCI-optimized platforms, allowing seamless operation in both telecom and data center facilities.
According to Ekinops, the C700HC is built on its Ekinops360 optical transport platform and features a 20-slot chassis design with an upgraded power envelope. The system supports up to ten PM_800FR04 800G line modules, delivering shelf capacity of up to 8 Tbps. At full capacity, the chassis operates with less than 0.2 watts of power per Gbps, making it suitable for high-density data center deployments where power efficiency and thermal management are critical.
For deployment flexibility, the C700HC supports both 300 mm telco rack depth with DC power for central offices and a front-to-back airflow with AC power for data centers using hot and cold aisle cooling. Management and orchestration are handled by Ekinops’ Celestis network management system, providing end-to-end visibility, provisioning, network monitoring, and rapid fault isolation across mixed environments. The chassis shares management systems and line cards with existing C600HC and C200HC models, reducing sparing requirements and streamlining inventory management.
Regarding operational versatility, Guillaume Crenn, Product Line and Marketing Director at Ekinops, stated, “The C700HC is designed specifically as a bridge between the different operating environments,” adding, “It allows our customers to deploy the same transport platform in both CO and data center locations so they can seamlessly extend capacity from their existing networks directly to and between these data centers to reach their customers located there that are connecting to Cloud services and AI.”
Ekinops reports that the C700HC is now available and shipping to customers in Europe and North America.
Source: Ekinops
