Roundup: Level 3, Force 10, AboveNet, Oracle

Here’s a roundup of this week’s headlines from the data center and hosting industry:

Level 3 boosts CDN capacity. Level 3 Communications (LVLT) announced that as a result of increased customer demand, it has added significant capacity and five new network locations to their content delivery network (CDN). With the additional capacity the Level 3 network has increased by 1.65 Terabits per second of CDN capacity. New network locations added include Toronto and Montreal, and Brussels, Munich and Hamburg. “Level 3 has had the privilege of serving some of the largest consumers of bandwidth for a number of years," said Mark Taylor, vice president of Content and Media at Level 3. "We play very close attention to their needs to build delivery solutions that take account of the way our customers’ businesses are changing and adapting. We have seen a significant increase in demand for our CDN services this year. With this rate of growth and with customer needs in mind, Level 3 will continue to develop CDN capabilities, add capacity and improve performance for all of our customers.”

Force 10 announces 40 Gigabit S-Series. Force 10 Networks announced an end-to-end 40 Gigabit Ethernet (40 GbE) solution designed to bring increased performance while delivering network simplicity to converged data centers. The S-Series S4810 is a 10/40 GbE top-of-rack switch and they are also announcing the new 40 GbE line card for the ExaScale virtualized core switch/router. “With its core-to-edge 40 GbE solution announced today, Force10 is well positioned to capture additional market share as customers look to attributes such as high port density and lower power consumption – attributes where their ExaScale switch/router competes effectively," said Zeus Kerravala, senior vice president and distinguished research fellow at the Yankee Group. The S4810 will begin shipping by the end of the quarter and be showcased at the upcoming SC10 conference in New Orleans November 15-18.

AboveNet announces Ethernet eXchange. AboveNet (ABVT) announced the Ethernet eXchange Hub service optimized to provide carriers with next-generation high bandwidth connectivity. It will be available first to customers operating in select CENX and Equinix Carrier Ethernet Exchanges. Features of the new Hub service include bandwidth levels from 100Mbps to 5Gbps, competitive access pricing and the capability to easily add more sites to meet carrier needs. AboveNet expects the eXchange Hub service to be available in the first quarter of 2011.

Oracle acquires ATG. Oracle announced that it has agreed to acquire e-commerce provider Art Technology Group (ARTG) for approximately $1 billion. ATG software provides a cohesive online customer experience with sophisticated merchandising, marketing, content personalization, automated recommendations and live-help services. “Driven by the convergence of online and traditional commerce and the need to increase revenue and improve customer loyalty, organizations across many industries are looking for a unified commerce and CRM platform to provide a seamless experience across all commerce channels,” said Thomas Kurian, Executive Vice President Oracle Development. “Bringing together the complementary technologies and products from Oracle and ATG will enable the delivery of next-generation, unified cross-channel commerce and CRM.” The transaction is expected to close by early 2011.