Arista today said it successfully tested the interoperability of its routers with 400G ZR optical pluggables from a variety of vendors over Microsoft’s 120-kilometer open line system test bed.

The 400 Gb/s-capable optical modules were connected to two Arista 7800R3-series routers on either end of Microsoft’s network using a variety of 400 Gb/s-capable optics.

These pluggables are designed to connect directly over standard network interfaces found on routers, switches, and other networking hardware. 400G ZR optics are also designed to be interoperable, capable of interfacing with pluggables or hardware from competing vendors. This, Arista claims makes 400G ZR ideal for data center interconnect (DCI) and metro spans.

"We are very pleased with the demonstrated performance of the 400G ZR transceiver modules,” Hacene Chaouch, distinguished engineer at Arista Networks, said in a statement. “Being able to seamlessly support modules from multiple 400G ZR vendors on our standard routing platforms constitutes a significant advancement in the DCI space."

Arista did not disclose which vendors' pluggable optics were used in the trial, but did say “Microsoft’s transmission testing confirmed excellent optical and thermal performance over a variety of 400G ZR vendors.”

Several vendors, including Acacia, Nokia, and Ciena are developing 400G ZR pluggables for use in DCI and metro networks.

Editor's note: an earlier version of this story mischaracterized Arista's 7800R3.