Innovative technologies are key to the network of the future – including pluggable optics. In fact, your investment in pluggable optics is critical to the customer experience you deliver and your company’s brand. Building on the first episode of the Design Your Networks for the Internet for the Future podcast, IDG host Barbara Call and guest Pat Chou, Product Manager at Cisco, explore the growing importance of pluggable optics.  “Pluggable optics are these little metal modules that you need to connect switches, routers, and service together,” says Chou. “They’re basically optical transceivers which convert high-speed electrical signals into optical signals and vice versa, so we can use fiber optics cables for these connections.” “Once you get to certain data rates over certain distances, copper cables just can’t do it, and fiber optics is really the only option,” he continues. In fact, when it comes to the Internet for the Future, Cisco’s key optics innovations will help IT and network leaders migrate their network to higher speeds both inside the data centers and across the transport networks. Simply put, pluggable optics are essential to building a network for future internet connectivity.