Dell Technologies enhances adoption of open telecom network architectures By CIOTechOutlook Team

Dell Technologies enhances adoption of open telecom network architectures

CIOTechOutlook Team | Thursday, 23 February 2023, 03:02 IST

With new partnerships and solutions like Dell Telecom Infrastructure Blocks for Red Hat, new Dell PowerEdge edge servers, a private wireless programme, and expanded lab capabilities, Dell Technologies is assisting the telecommunications sector in accelerating the adoption of open, cloud-native technologies.

"The promise of open telecom network architecture is clear to operators, but has so far been a challenge to realize," said Dennis Hoffman, senior vice president and general manager, Dell Technologies Telecom Systems Business. "To address this challenge, the industry needs to create consumable, tested solutions that telecom operators can confidently deploy in their networks. With our new partnerships, solutions and expanded lab capabilities, Dell Technologies is quickly growing the industry ecosystem and bringing together communications service providers and technology partners, so we can put open innovation into action."

To increase its selection of telecom infrastructure blocks, Dell works with Red Hat. To assist network operators in meeting the demands of 5G core and radio access network (RAN) workloads, Dell has released Telecom Infrastructure Blocks for Red Hat. Co-designed with Red Hat, the fully engineered, cloud-native solution is supported by Dell services and support. In order to develop, scale out, and power core network services using Red Hat OpenShift and Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes, the solution comprises the hardware, software, and subscriptions network operators require.

The segmented, vendor-specific stacks used to construct most modern telecom networks hinder operational flexibility and infrastructure effectiveness. The design, deployment, and lifecycle management of a telecom cloud are made simpler with Dell's solution, which is built on open standards. Network operators may increase the effectiveness of how they use their IT resources to minimise operational expenses and power usage, hence reducing their carbon footprint, with the enlarged Telecom Infrastructure Block portfolio.

According to ACG Research, compared to installing telecom cloud infrastructure without the Dell solution, CSPs using Dell Telecom Infrastructure Blocks can lower OpEx by 40% and CapEx by 10%. ACG discovered that by lowering power and cooling costs, 833 metric tonnes of total CO2 emissions could be avoided over the course of five years. This is similar to driving 179 gas-powered cars for a year or using the typical annual electricity use of 162 homes.

"We are excited about the value that Dell is delivering with their Telecom Infrastructure Block strategy and their commitment to providing choice in the telecom cloud stack," said Marc Rouanne, executive vice president and chief network officer, Dish Wireless. "Red Hat is a strategic player in telecom. We see this announcement as a positive step toward further ecosystem diversity and accelerating open and virtualized networks."

"Networks operating at scale from the core to the edge require layered capabilities, across infrastructure and software-defined architecture, with added security measures, orchestration and cloud-native applications," said Honoré LaBourdette, vice president, telco, media, entertainment and edge ecosystem, Red Hat. "By collaborating through an ecosystem of skilled hardware and software vendors, we are better equipped to deliver tailored solutions for network operators that meet their unique needs. Red Hat OpenShift provides a standard cloud-native platform to power core network functions across any IT landscape for greater flexibility, agility and business results."

Dell unveils PowerEdge servers built for enterprise edges and open telecom networks. In order to streamline edge operations, the new Dell PowerEdge XR8000, XR7620, and XR5610 servers are made exclusively for telecom, open RAN, and mobile edge computing applications. The 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable CPUs serve as the foundation for the small servers. If a server has Intel vRAN Boost, it can go without an external accelerator card, saving an additional 20% of computation power and having a cheaper total cost of ownership than older servers. 2

The scalable, modular designs simplify deployment and maintenance, while Network Equipment Building Systems Level 3 compliance and Zero Trust enabling capabilities help provide safety and security in the field. With Dell's Smart Cooling technology the servers can use less power and offer increased performance. In addition, the systems will support temperatures from –5 to 55 degrees Celsius in edge locations from the factory floor to remote cellular base stations.3

"Through our valued technical partnership and accommodating our requirements for evolved distributed unit platforms, Vodafone applauds the addition of the XR8000 to the Dell Technologies PowerEdge portfolio," said Andy Dunkin, Open RAN RF and digital platform development manager, Vodafone. "It is a dense compute and modular solution with the environmental specification and form factor that will facilitate O-RAN deployment."

For CSPs and businesses, the private 5G wireless portfolio from Dell offers variety and adaptability. The Dell Private Wireless Program is meant to give CSPs and enterprise customers additional options in private wireless solutions so they may discover the best match for their needs. It is based on a varied ecosystem of partners. Private wireless solutions based on open architectures that were jointly created with technology partners are pre-tested and approved by Dell and come with self-service operations capabilities. With solution integration, end-to-end administration, and support, Dell professionals reduce complexity.

A completely integrated solution from Dell Private Wireless with Airspan and Expeto allows medium and large businesses to expand on-site and remote application support across private and public 4G and 5G networks. Small and medium-sized organisations can quickly implement their preferred network architecture, radio vendor, or spectrum band using Dell Private Wireless with Athonet for an economical, user-friendly private wireless solution.

With improved lab capabilities, Dell fosters collaboration across the whole telecom industry. In order for open telecom solutions and applications to be swiftly and simply installed in telecom networks, the Dell Open Telecom Ecosystem Lab, based in Round Rock, Texas, provides support to more than 25 clients and partners. Dell is stepping its efforts to facilitate ecosystem collaboration and speed up innovation with:

An additional place for consumers and partners to engage across the vast, open telecom ecosystem is now available thanks to the opening of a new Open Telecom Ecosystem Lab in Cork, Ireland.

The capabilities of the lab are expanded by the Dell Open Telecom Ecosystem Lab Validation Services, which allow customers exclusive access to Dell experts for continuing design advice and validation. This aids CSPs in reducing risk and hastening the launch of new products and services.

Before implementing their software in a telecom network, partners can test and certify it with the Wind River Studio cloud-native platform using a new self-certification lab environment.