Nokia targets data center power constraints with new hardware
Nokia is expanding its networking hardware portfolio with the 7220 IXR-H6 switch series, aiming to improve energy efficiency for AI-driven data centers.
The rapid expansion of AI infrastructure is placing significant stress on global power grids, with data center electricity demand projected to double by 2030. As power availability becomes a critical constraint for cloud providers, Nokia is focusing on increasing throughput while lowering the energy footprint per gigabit.
The newly introduced 7220 IXR-H6 switch family supports a throughput of 102.4 Tbps. By enabling the use of LPO/LRO pluggables, the hardware allows operators to reduce power consumption by minimizing the reliance on traditional signal processing components. Nokia reports that these efficiency gains also contribute to improved system reliability by reducing the number of potential points of failure.
Nokia continues to leverage its FP5 chipset technology to balance performance and power consumption. The company cites data from the European internet exchange NL-ix, which reported a significant reduction in energy per gigabit following the implementation of FP5-equipped routers. These efforts are intended to address the long-term operational costs associated with large-scale data center cooling and electricity consumption.