Nokia launches pon-based out-of-band management solution for data centers

Nokia introduced Aurelis for Data Centers, a new Out-of-Band Management (OOB) (OOBM) product designed to provide a secure control path for monitoring and managing server infrastructure in data centers.

With growing operational demands in data center environments, the need to simplify management and reduce resource use has prompted exploration of alternatives to traditional OOBM architectures, which typically require dedicated switches for each rack and increase power and cooling requirements.

The Aurelis solution employs Passive Optical Network (PON) fiber technology to deliver a point-to-multipoint setup that can connect thousands of endpoints from a single optical switch, significantly cutting down on the number of active switches needed. It features six nines availability, five zero touch provisioning, plug-and-play optical modems for remote management, and AI-assisted troubleshooting and automation to reduce manual tasks and onsite maintenance.

The system comprises the Aurelis MF-2 Optical Switch (OLT) as a central device to manage multiple connections, Aurelis Optical Modems (ONT) that terminate fiber and provide Ethernet ports usually mounted at the top of racks, and the Aurelis Command Center (CC) which supports intent-based management and interfaces with existing data center controllers and automation platforms.

Geert Heyninck, General Manager of Broadband Networks at Nokia, said, “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.” Chris DePuy, analyst and co-founder of 650 Group, said, “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.”

The companies described plans for further application of this solution to support efficiency and operational simplicity in data center management environments.