• Out-of-band management  provides a secure and always-on control path to monitor, manage and recover critical server infrastructure in data centers.
• Nokia Aurelis for Data Centers is a purpose-built solution for out-of-band management.
• Aurelis leverages Passive Optical Network  fiber technology to significantly reduce the amount of active equipment, power and operational cost.

Nokia announced the expansion of its OOBM portfolio with the launch of Aurelis for Data Centers. The new purpose-built, PON-based fiber solution gives AI and cloud providers a simple, effective way to establish critical OOBM functions. Reducing the number of active switches by 90%, the solution improves space efficiency, delivers 50% or more power savings and simplifies operational effort by 80%.

Traditional OOBM architectures depend on dedicated per-rack switches, adding unnecessary complexity while increasing power and cooling demands. As data centers scale, finding new ways to simplify operations and reduce costs become critical.

Nokia’s Aurelis solution for Data Centers provides a simpler, more efficient and cost effective OOBM architecture. The PON optical switch with six nines availability can connect and manage thousands of endpoints from a single platform, significantly reducing the number of switches and power required. With zero touch provisioning, the solution is easy to install and comes with plug-and-play optical modems that can be remotely managed. AI-enabled proactive troubleshooting and automated operations also reduce manual work and minimize on-site visits.

“With AI demand seeing no signs of slowing down, data centers are looking to PON technology to help save on costs and space. PON is designed for efficiency and reliability, making it the perfect technology for out-of-band management in data centers. Aurelis is already deployed in over 700 mission critical enterprise networks and is ideally suited to help data centers become more resilient and efficient,” said Geert Heyninck, General Manager of Broadband Networks at Nokia.

“As data centers scale to support cloud and AI workloads, operational complexity and risk are increasing. PON-based OOBM reflects a broader industry shift towards a simpler, greener, fiber-based architecture. For data centers, PON’s point-to-multipoint architecture delivers massive space, power and cost savings.” said Chris DePuy, analyst and co-founder of 650 Group.

Nokia’s Aurelis solution includes:

• Aurelis MF-2 Optical Switch (OLT): a central switch that connects thousands of devices in point-to-multipoint architecture.
• Aurelis Optical Modems (ONT): stateless devices that terminate fiber and convert signal into Ethernet ports. The ONTs can be managed remotely and are typically top-of-rack mounted to save space.
• Aurelis Command Center (CC): a mature management solution with intent-based capabilities for simplified operations that is designed to interface with data center controller and automation systems.