Nokia to supply data center switching to Microsoft

Nokia has won a tech contract to provide its data center switching solutions to Microsoft for powering its data centers.
Nokia 7250 IXR routers for SPs
Microsoft’s Azure is the second largest Cloud service provider in the world.

Nokia said it will supply its 7250 IXR routers to support 400GE applications in Microsoft’s tier-2 network architecture. Nokia will also be supplying fixed-form-factor platforms into other Microsoft network applications.

Nokia in a news statement said that its 7250 IXR offers a range of high-performance chassis-based and fixed-form-factor options for data center top of rack (TOR), leaf, spine and super-spine applications. The platforms support port speeds up to 400GE, with a path to 800GE, along with comprehensive IP and Ethernet feature sets.

Vach Kompella, Vice President, IP Networks Division, Nokia, said: “Today’s data centers have their own unique operational challenges, and Nokia has been working closely for some time now with Microsoft to understand its evolving data center needs and requirements.”

“Nokia’s platforms were a natural choice to deliver the massive-scale interconnectivity that Microsoft requires. Nokia brings density, performance and flexibility to Microsoft’s data center networks and cloud environments and is partnering with Microsoft to deliver chassis switches running the open source networking operating system SONiC,” David Maltz, Technical Fellow and Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Azure Networking, said.