SURF, the Dutch research and education IT co-operative, has appointed HPE and Salumanus to help build its next-generation national network, in a move aimed at meeting soaring demand for bandwidth, predictability, and resilience across the country’s academic sector.
HPE will supply routing systems for SURF’s backbone and border network domains, while Salumanus will provide coherent transceivers as part of a broader shift to multi-vendor, high-performance network design. Systems integrator Nomios will oversee procurement and lifecycle management across suppliers.
SURF is preparing to replace its network in phases over the coming years, moving to an architecture capable of delivering 800GE, 400GE, and 100GE connectivity. The organisation said the overhaul is necessary to support traffic growth and enable greater flexibility in network upgrades.
Harold Teunissen, Head of Network & Infrastructure Services at SURF, said the redesign would give members higher capacity, more predictable performance, stronger security, and the ability to scale without dependence on a single vendor. He added that the new platform would allow SURF to operate the network more efficiently and ensure institutions remain equipped for the demands of the next decade.
HPE will deliver PTX Series Routers, including PTX10008 and PTX10002-36QDD systems using Express 5 silicon, to connect SURF’s IP peering and the NetherLight global exchange point. The deployment includes HPE’s virtual Route Reflector for streamlined routing, alongside Corero’s anti-DDoS technology.
Dobias van Ingen, EMEA CTO for HPE Networking, said the company was supporting SURF in building a resilient high-performance network that would strengthen collaboration and data protection across the education and research community.
Salumanus, meanwhile, will underpin a major shift in SURF’s optical infrastructure. The organisation plans to migrate its access network from CWDM to DWDM technology to support future upgrades to 100G and beyond. The backbone will move to 400G and 800G using IP-over-DWDM, eliminating the need for separate transponders and reducing power usage, space requirements, and costs.
Marcin Bala, CTO of Salumanus, said OpenZR+ and DWDM technologies would help SURF build a more efficient and future-proof optical network.
Nomios will continue its long-standing role with SURF, coordinating supplier selection and managing the multi-vendor model underpinning the new architecture. Managing Director Mohamed El Haddouchi said the integrator was helping SURF maintain vendor diversity while ensuring the technology mix remains practical across network domains.
SURF is owned by Dutch education and research institutions and designs and operates the national research and education network. Salumanus provides optical networking technologies across Europe, while Nomios specialises in secure networking and cybersecurity services.
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