The new Nokia switches support both the firm’s SR Linux NOS and open-source SONiC and also are available in liquid- and air-cooled variants
In sum – what to know:
Doubles data throughput – The 7220 IXR-H6 series reaches 102.4 Tb/s and 1.6 TE speeds, supporting next-gen AI workloads and ultra-large-scale data centers.
Agentic AI reduces downtime by 96% – EDA’s AIOps uses natural language and automation to identify and resolve issues faster, based on Bell Labs and Futurum findings.
Open, flexible network architecture – Nokia supports both SR Linux and SONiC, offering open standards and compatibility with Ultra Ethernet Consortium specifications.
Finnish vendor Nokia announced the expansion of its data center networking portfolio with the aim of meeting the rising performance and scalability demands for AI workloads.
In a release, the company said it is introducing its new 7220 Interconnect Router (IXR-H6) family and enhanced AI for Operations (AIOps) tools for the Event-Driven Automation (EDA) platform.
Nokia highlighted that the updates aim to improve reliability, efficiency, and speed in connecting large-scale AI training and inference workloads, as data centers adapt to increasingly complex agentic AI applications.
Vach Kompella, senior vice president and general manager of IP Networks at Nokia, said: “The astonishing growth in AI adoption has led to a dramatic overhaul in how data centers operate, and is driving constant evolution in hardware and operational tools. We are pleased to announce our new family of high-performance 7220 IXR-H6 switches along with advances in our EDA platform, which now leverages the sophistication of agentic AI to drive highly reliable network operations at the speed required to keep up with the pace of change.”
The 7220 IXR-H6 switches deliver up to 102.4 Tb/s throughput with 1.6 Terabit Ethernet (TE) interfaces — doubling throughput and interface performance within the same footprint. They support Ultra Ethernet Consortium (UEC) specifications to manage packet flow and congestion in AI factory environments scaling to one million XPUs, Nokia said.
Available in liquid– and air-cooled variants, the new switches support both Nokia’s SR Linux NOS and open-source SONiC, offering operators deployment flexibility and open ecosystem compatibility.
“Companies who are seeking the flexibility of an open networking environment with the ability to lean into their own design team and/or the open-source community for new software features and capabilities may choose the SONiC path. Companies who prefer fully integrated solutions with access to advanced software features and a dedicated engineering team, will choose Nokia SR Linux NOS. For both audiences, Nokia offers choice, technical software support, and access to a wide range of advanced hardware platforms,” Heidi Adams, head of IP marketing at Nokia, told RCR Wireless News.
Nokia also enhanced its EDA platform with agentic AI-based AIOps capabilities designed to simplify issue identification, root cause analysis, and remediation through natural language interactions.
“We provide this AIOps capability through our EDA platform, which leverages GenAI and agentic AI capabilities. EDA’s intelligent assistant doesn’t just understand what you ask; it understands your network. Powered by Nokia’s AIOps engine, it correlates telemetry, topology, and change data in real time to explain what’s happening and what to do next,” Adams added.
The 7220 IXR-H6 switches will be available in the first quarter of 2026, while EDA AIOps features will be deployable by the end of this year.
