DCI network solutions have become more popular than ever lately. A wide-encompassing concept comprising connectivity solutions spanning various layers of the network, DCI can be conveniently built from the packet layer, with routers and switches, or from the optical layer, with packet-optical technology. Its ability to efficiently connect 2 or more data centers over long distances with packet-optical, high-speed connectivity or to connect routers and servers to multi-tenant data centers has made telecom companies look for ways and means to increase their efforts in the DCI space.

Following similar lines, Nokia has declared that China-based webscale giants, Baidu and Tencent, have awarded the company with two contracts for data center interconnect (DCI) network solutions. Both the firms will strengthen their relationship with Nokia and build their software-defined DCI infrastructure, and provide them with massive-scale, optical bandwidth for the expanding cloud operations in the U.S. and China.

For the record, China’s webscale networks lend support to millions of consumers shopping online, sharing photographs, searching for information, etc. Nokia’s webscale DCI solutions, powered by the Nokia Photonic Service Engine (PSE) and the Nokia 1830 Photonic Service Interconnect (PSI) have also been enabling Chinese webscale operators to support edge cloud applications like AI, autonomous driving, machine learning, and Industry 4.0. Nokia’s SDN and DCI solutions help to simplify and automate important operational functions for reduced costs and maximize capacity and agility as well.

Markus Bochert, President, Nokia Greater China, has been quoted to state that the company’s association with Tencent and Baidu will consolidate its presence in the China webscale market which he expects will expand significantly in the next few years.

For the uninitiated, Baidu and Tencent fall among the top four Chinese webscale operators. While Tencent leads in online gaming and social media, Baidu is the number one search engine. Both companies have huge cloud operations in China and overseas in order to support their global businesses. Quite naturally, connecting this huge network of data centers worldwide would need SDN solutions that are quite responsive and compliant with the fast-shifting nature of services, as well as high optical bandwidth.

Source Credits: https://www.nokia.com/about-us/news/releases/2020/06/16/nokia-to-provide-dci-networks-to-tencent-and-baidu/