A global leader in data center interconnects, with smart loopbacks, module and host compliance: MultiLane

In the digital world we live in, data centers have become faster, more complex, and larger than ever. Many new technologies like Fibre Channel over Ethernet, virtualization, and 40/100GB Ethernet are all set to help companies move various traffic types – storage, data, voice, and video – onto a singles core. Measuring the performance and validation is an integral part of implementing new technologies. A holistic testing approach will cover the entire data center, and that, in turn, will require you to have an efficient test instrument in place that can measure the performance of a data center as a whole. Globally, there are various companies delivering excellent test solutions for data centers, but MultiLane stands out from the rest. MultiLane supplies the data communications industry with high-speed test and measurement equipment, from 10Gbps to 400Gbps and even 800Gbps. The company’s product lines are compatible with several multi-source agreements (MSAs), including QSFP-DD and OSFP – two of the most common form factors used by the industry today. MultiLane is the global leader in data center interconnects, offering a lineup of smart loopbacks, module and host compliance boards, adapters and CMIS analyzers. In addition, MultiLane offers developers, module vendors, system companies, and data center hyperscalers, a selection of high-performance benchtop test instruments and automated test platforms at competitive prices. The company also offers compliance and interoperability testing services, along with high speed signal integrity design services.

Leader behind the success

Fadi Daou, Founder and CEO of MultiLane is a successful entrepreneur with 30 years of experience in founding high-tech startups and developing state-of-the-art technology products and solutions in the semiconductor industry. It all started in 2000 when Fadi co-founded Telephotonics, a developer of passive optical components. FiberGrade, his next venture, specialized in optical monitoring equipment. After this, Fadi founded PXIT, which produced high-performance instruments for the electro-optical transceiver market. After repatriating to Lebanon in 2006, Fadi founded Multilane SAL and Houmal Technology Park (HTP) in his hometown of Houmal, with the mission of creating an ecosystem to support the Lebanese high-tech sector. This has led to the creation of a flourishing industry in Lebanon that is on track to create over one thousand jobs, curtailing Lebanon’s brain drain by providing its citizens with the ability to excel in their field on a global scale without feeling the need to leaving their country behind. Fadi Daou’s motivation behind starting MultiLane was twofold. Initially, in the scope of the semiconductor industry, he saw a need for high-speed test solutions to be made available at an approachable price point. As integrated circuits, optical modules, and data center interconnects were on pace to support higher and higher speeds, they also required more comprehensive testing in the production line which is a critical need today. Fadi’s core inspiration, however, remains the creation of hundreds of high-tech jobs allowing his countrymen to develop their careers in Lebanon itself, leaving relocation to the products they design and build.

Understanding role of data and future plans

Data centers are expected to continue to play a vital role in the ingestion, computation, storage, and management of information. Ever forward thinking, MultiLane is poised to continue being a vital enabler of the evolution of the cloud by providing scalable solutions to test capacity for storage, computation, and data transmission. MultiLane helps Hyperscaler cloud service companies continue to evolve their network capacities thanks to its high-value test and validation solutions. When the TSR asked Mr. Fadi Daou how they manage the ever-growing pace of digital transformation, he stated that “We don’t merely deal with digital transformation; we embrace it as a spark for our own evolution. For instance, the same port density that supported 100Gbps 6 years ago can support 800Gbps today.” The test solution ecosystem required for the industry to evolve this quickly is very demanding. Thus, MultiLane is structured to innovate in a very rapid and nimble manner, helping craft the multi-vendor specifications for next-generation technologies and developing new test instrumentation for them in parallel. Acting as both industry scout and vanguard, MultiLane makes its expertise broadly accessible with its strong presence at conferences and trade shows through live demonstrations at MultiLane’s own and its partners’ show booths. The company aims to keep the industry updated on its latest contributions through webinars and regular publications of white papers, newsletters, and press releases. MultiLane submits its cutting-edge products for annual innovation reviews where industry leaders recognize and distinguish the company’s competency standards. Finally, MultiLane makes itself approachable via digital media channels and is always ready to directly support its clients.

MultiLane is launching a new facility in California this year to offer interoperability test services of data center interconnect platforms like optical modules and switches, exclusively aimed towards the hyperscaler cloud sector. The company is also ramping up its capacity to offer advanced signal integrity design services out of its Lebanon headquarters. This is a unique and highly coveted expertise by the semiconductor and HSIO industries, enabling them to accelerate their designs to market with greater confidence. The MultiLane team is humbled by the growth in opportunities it has been exposed to in recent years. The company is now more committed than ever to delivering innovative and game-changing test solutions to its industry partners and continuing its growth trajectory as the brand becomes even more recognized globally. Exciting things are certainly on the horizon, including new product families that enable testing of coherent-optic components and modules, as well as a significant uptick in the variety of design and test services MultiLane has to offer.

“We offer developers, module vendors, system companies, and data center hyperscalers, a selection of high-performance stand-alone benchtop instruments and automated test platforms, at very competitive prices.”