Huber+Suhner has opened its new advanced manufacturing site in Pisary, Poland, dedicated to the large-scale production of POLATIS optical circuit switches (OCS) for AI and hyperscale data centres. Production capacity is planned to increase at least fivefold over the next two years.
Reflecting the surge in demand for OCS solutions, the company is increasing the speed of manufacturing of the POLATIS OCS portfolio with the intention to help ensure hyperscale operators have the technology required to enhance the performance and energy efficiency of data centre architectures and AI compute clusters.
“The opening of our new Pisary facility is a major milestone that aligns with our commitment to innovation and operational excellence in optical networking,” claims Jürgen Walter, Chief Operating Officer, Communication Segment at Huber+Suhner. “Our POLATIS OCS solutions deliver transparent, software-defined, dynamic optical connectivity within energy-efficient hyperscale data centres to meet the low loss and latency demands of high-performance AI workloads.”
Rising demand for OCS solutions stems from the rapid growth of hyperscale data centre infrastructure across the globe, driven by cloud computing and the increased use of AI.
AI workloads are hosted on clusters of thousands of graphical processor units (GPUs) interconnected by optical fibres carrying data at hundreds of gigabits per second. An OCS enables on-demand reconfiguration of optical-layer connectivity and can route large volumes of high-speed traffic with minimal latency.
By maintaining data in the optical domain and eliminating the need for optical-electrical-optical conversions, POLATIS OCS solutions hope to reduce power consumption and operating expenditure for hyperscale data centres, enabling new data centre architectures and allowing AI workloads to run more efficiently and at lower cost.
With approximately 3,000m², the Pisary site will add to the existing Krzeszowice facility nearby, which is currently being operated at its full capacity.
“The Pisary site will enhance our supply of OCS solutions while reflecting our mission for sustainable operations,” says Robert Smith, Managing Director, POLATIS at Huber+Suhner. “The facilities include a photovoltaic installation with a capacity of 150 kilowatt peak (kWp), a mechanical ventilation with heat recovery, and a biological waste treatment plant. A new building management system has also been implemented to support a low carbon footprint.”
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