Nokia has signed a five-year extension of its agreement with Microsoft to supply data center routers and switches for Azure's global cloud infrastructure. The partnership will expand Nokia's footprint to over 30 countries and strengthen its role as a strategic supplier for Microsoft's worldwide cloud infrastructure, Nokia announced on Thursday.
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7250 IXR-10e and 400GE Connectivity
As part of the deal, Nokia will provide its 7250 IXR-10e platform for multi-terabit interconnectivity within Microsoft's data centers, along with custom top-of-rack switches to support Azure's migration from 100GE to 400GE connectivity. These upgrades will address growing traffic demands and enable deployments in both greenfield and existing data centers, with rollouts starting in February, According to Nokia.
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Vach Kompella, Senior Vice President and General Manager of IP Networks business at Nokia, said: "As a result of this new deal, Nokia will further increase the scalability and reliability of Microsoft Azure data centers around the world. This win affirms Nokia's commitment to being a strategic supplier for tier-one hyperscaler companies, and highlights that our multi-year strategic investments and approach have put us on the right trajectory."
Driving Open-Source Innovation
David Maltz, Technical Fellow and Corporate Vice President for Microsoft Azure Networking, said: "As leaders in the advancement of cloud compute, we are continuously expanding our global footprint to support the massive growth in compute workloads. 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."
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The new agreement also builds upon the companies’ existing collaboration around open-source SONiC. Nokia's data center networking portfolio will enhance the scalability and reliability of Azure data centers around the world, the official release added.
