Microsoft Azure has engaged Nokia for an additional five years for supply of data centre routers and switches.
The partnership will grow Nokia’s global footprint to over 30 countries and strengthen its role as a strategic supplier for Microsoft’s worldwide cloud infrastructure.
Also, the new agreement builds upon the two companies’ existing collaboration around open source SONiC. Nokia said this highlights its continued innovation in developing and expanding SONiC capabilities, including in the area of chassis-based support for high-capacity network roles within the datacenter.
As part of the expansion, Nokia will supply its 7250 IXR-10e platform to deliver multi-terabit-scale interconnectivity within Microsoft’s data centres. Nokia will also continue to deliver its custom developed management top of rack switch that is used extensively throughout the Azure network.
The Nokia SONiC-based data centre routers and switches will be deployed both in greenfield locations and used in support of Microsoft’s migration from 100GE to 400GE connectivity within existing facilities.
This is expected to enable Microsoft to meet increasing traffic demands for years to come with Nokia’s exceptional networking performance and reliability. Deployment of the Nokia 7250 IXR-10e will begin in February.
Vach Kompella, SVP and general manager of IP Networks business at Nokia, said that as a result of this new deal, Nokia will further increase the scalability and reliability of Microsoft Azure data centres around the world.
“As leaders in the advancement of cloud compute, we are continuously expanding our global footprint to support the massive growth in compute workloads,” said David Maltz, technical fellow and corporate VP at Microsoft Azure Networking.
“Over the past six years we have worked with Nokia’s engineers to develop their routers running SONiC to rapidly advance our expansion at the quality our customers demand,” said Maltz.
