Nokia has launched a set of tools for data centre networking, developed in cooperation with Apple, to help companies to manage the growth in traffic as 5G and machine learning technologies roll out.
Nokia said SR Linux, 7250 IXR and 7220 IXR-D series are available today, the FSP and 7220 IXR-H series are expected to be available in Q4 2020.

Nokia, which competes against China’s Huawei and Sweden’s Ericsson to build 5G networks, has been broadening its portfolio by adding open interfaces to its 5G equipment and launching new networking products, Reuters reported.

“We worked very closely with Apple over the last two plus years to understand their requirements,” said Steve Vogelsang, Nokia’s chief technology officer for IP and optical business.

Nokia’s new tools aim to assist firms running big data centres, known as hyperscalers, such as Amazon, Alphabet’s Google, Microsoft and Facebook. The products will help them scale up resources swiftly.

Apple will deploy Nokia’s Service Router Linux (SR Linux) NOS and Nokia Fabric Service Platform (FSP) in its data centre in Viborg, Denmark.

Adam Bechtel, vice president and Networking lead at Apple, said: “We regularly upgrade our data center equipment with technology to increase efficiency and reduce energy consumption. Using Nokia’s new system will enable better networking and routing capabilities in our Viborg, Denmark facility.”

The new products are also geared to other cloud builders, such large enterprises building their own private clouds and telecom operators, said Manish Gulyani, vice president of global enterprise marketing.

Nokia, which has signed up BT and Equinix as customers, is also targeting Oracle, Google and Amazon.

Neil McRae, BT Group Chief Architect, said: “We consider data center automation as a foundational technology for our telco cloud model. Nokia’s new data center fabric solution promises to provide full programmability with deep telemetry, along with a modern operational toolkit to drive the extreme automation and scaling of our telco cloud.”

Turkcell, a leading telecom operator in Turkey, said it needs maximum agility with maximum confidence. “Nokia’s approach is well positioned,” Elif Yenihan, Core and Access Planning Director at Turkcell, said.