At PS Lightwave when we say “technology is never stagnant” we are usually referring to the continuous evolution of the industry, but this past summer our technology really was not stagnant as we physically moved critical equipment between buildings in Houston.

The successful relocation of our Core Node in August was the culmination of months of planning and preparation that paid off in a precision move that involved our entire team.

Priority: Making Sure Clients Stay Up and Running

PS Lightwave has built long-lasting relationships with clients based on an unmatched level of 24/7/365 support and making sure they stay up and running around the clock, especially during unexpected events like Hurricane Harvey.

During that massive 2017 storm PS Lightwave’s performance was impressive with 98 percent of network devices staying up 100 percent of the time.

PS Lightwave’s fiber splicing manager even used a jet ski to refuel a portable generator at a node in a building engulfed by water.

The good news about the recently completed Core Node move is that it was a planned event which allowed for five full months of detailed work on the project.

The Core Node, which includes among other hardware the Ciena 6500 Packet-Optical Platform, is key to PS Lightwave’s managing of its 5,500 route-mile fiber optic network and delivery of its services such as Ethernet, Internet, Dark Fiber and VoIP across the greater Houston area.

Core Node Move: 12 Steps to Success

The Core Node move can be broken down into 12 steps, each important in the chain of success.

Preparing the New Location: The new location needed an upgrade to HVAC and AC/DC power. Dual entry, protected fiber pulls were established.

Planning: Weekly meetings with all teams involved started in April and increased to twice a week in the final six weeks. Everything from scope of work to budget was ironed out.

Order Equipment: New equipment was required for the move such as four major switches and three Waveservers.

Plotting Fiber Routes: Operations determined cable placement and splice case location.

Permitting: Once fiber routes were identified, contractor maps and work orders were created and permitting secured.

Installing New Equipment: A Telco 23-inch rack was installed at the new location along with chilled water AC installation. Waveservers were installed at three locations and 864 fibers of panel terminations were completed.

Splicing: New routes were spliced to six hub locations. New cases east and west were installed, and 864 fibers spliced at the new location. Existing cases were mapped out with tails installed in preparation of cutover.

Identifying and Organizing Link Moves: Rebuilding fiber into five node sites and identifying links that could be moved as early as May. New ports for clients at the new location were prepped and assigned.

Scheduling Maintenance Windows: Three to four major weekends/phases were established to move fiber.

Moving Customer Links: Carrier class data rings, with its built-in redundancy, helped minimize customer downtime. Existing layer 2 rings were reconfigured to the new location. Reconfiguring on live circuits, IT equivalency of brain surgery, was performed.

Resolving Challenges: Issues were addressed on the fly such as RX errors on Waveserver 100G links. Adapted to late-arriving equipment, which was installed, configured and ready to go on time.

Physically Moving Equipment to New Location: The final step was moving the physical equipment between buildings and this was successfully completed in mid-August.

“The Core Node move was successful, even with the added difficulty of the COVID-19 pandemic, because everybody at PS Lightwave worked as a complete team with chemistry and precision,” said Rhonda Cook, CEO and founder of PS Lightwave.

As a Houston-based company, servicing local clients, PS Lightwave is uniquely positioned to respond quickly to client’s requests and needs. The recently relocated Core Node is just part of the infrastructure that helps power one of the nation’s largest private fiber-optic Metropolitan Area Networks.

Check out the video we made of the transfer!

Contact us today to learn more about our high-quality infrastructure, innovative technology and expert, locally based support.

Contact us today to learn more about our high-quality infrastructure, innovativ