NVIDIA unveils DPUs and Data-Center-Infrastructure-on-a-Chip SDK

 NVIDIA has begun sampling its second-generation family of BlueField data processing unit (DPUs) for accelerating data center infrastructure.

The new BlueField-2 DPU is designed to offload critical networking, storage and security tasks from server CPUs. The company says a single chip can deliver the same data center services that could consume up to 125 CPU cores. This frees up valuable CPU cores to run a wide range of other enterprise applications.

NVIDIA’s current DPU lineup includes two PCIe products:

• The NVIDIA BlueField-2 DPU, which features all of the capabilities of the NVIDIA Mellanox ConnectX-6 Dx SmartNIC combined with Arm cores. Fully programmable, it delivers data transfer rates of 200 Gbps and accelerates key data center security, networking and storage tasks, including isolation, root trust, key management, RDMA/RoCE, GPUDirect, elastic block storage, data compression and more.
• The NVIDIA BlueField-2X DPU, which includes all the key features of a BlueField-2 DPU enhanced with an NVIDIA Ampere GPU’s AI capabilities that can be applied to data center security, networking and storage tasks. Drawing from NVIDIA’s third-generation Tensor Cores, it is able to use AI for real-time security analytics, including identifying abnormal traffic, which could indicate theft of confidential data, encrypted traffic analytics at line rate, host introspection to identify malicious activity, and dynamic security orchestration and automated response.

BlueField-2 DPUs are sampling now and expected to be featured in new systems from leading server manufacturers in 2021. BlueField-2X DPUs are under development and are also expected to become available in 2021.

NVIDIA says its BlueField DPUs are being adopted by leading server manufacturers worldwide, including ASUS, Atos, Dell Technologies, Fujitsu, GIGABYTE, H3C, Inspur, Lenovo, Quanta/QCT and Supermicro.

NVIDIA is developing a novel data-center-infrastructure-on-a-chip (DOCA) architecture and programming that is intended to be analogous to its CUDA environment for GPUs. A new NVIDIA DOCA software development kit enables developers to rapidly create applications and services on top of NVIDIA BlueField DPUs. he DOCA SDK provides industry-standard open APIs and frameworks, including Data Plane Development Kit (DPDK) and P4 for networking and security and the Storage Performance Development Kit (SPDK) for storage. 

• NVIDIA is also participating in VMware's recently announced Project Monterey to integrate SmartNICs with VMware Cloud Foundation.
• Red Hat plans to offer support for BlueField-2 DPUs with Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Red Hat OpenShift, components of Red Hat’s open hybrid cloud portfolio, which is used by 95 percent of the Fortune 500.
• Canonical announced support of BlueField-2 DPUs and DOCA in its Ubuntu Linux platform, the most popular operating system among public clouds.
• Check Point Software Technologies, a leading cybersecurity provider, is integrating BlueField-2 DPUs into its technologies, which more than 100,000 organizations worldwide use to protect themselves from cyberattacks.

http://www.nvidia.com

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NVIDIA envisions EDGE AI with servers under Fleet Command service

NVIDIA announced growing momentum for its EGX edge AI platform, bringing a new wave of secure, GPU-accelerated software, services and servers to enterprise and edge data centers. The company cites traction from  AI, 5G, CloudRAN, security and networking companies who are teaming with major server manufacturers, including Dell Technologies, Inspur, Lenovo and Supermicro, as well as leading software infrastructure providers, including Canonical, Cloudera, Red Hat, SUSE and VMware, to leverage the NVIDIA EGX platform in edge applications.

NVIDIA also announced that the EGX platform is expanding to combine the NVIDIA Ampere architecture GPU and BlueField-2 DPU capabilities on a single PCIe card, giving enterprises a common platform to build secure, accelerated data centers. BlueField-2 DPUs include powerful Arm CPU cores that can be used to create a trusted enclave for AI inference models running on the GPU.

“Companies around the world will come to use AI to improve virtually every aspect of their business,” said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA, who unveiled the news in his keynote at the GPU Technology Conference. “To support this massive shift, NVIDIA has created an accelerated computing platform that helps companies modernize their data centers and deploy AI anywhere.”

Servers in many locations

Rather than having 10,000 servers in one location, future enterprise data centers will have one or more servers across 10,000 different locations, including inside office buildings, factories, warehouses, cell towers, schools, stores and banks.

To simplify and secure the deployment and management of AI applications and models on these servers at scale, NVIDIA will offer a new service called NVIDIA Fleet Command with a unified control plane to centralize the management of servers spread across vast areas, including factories, hospitals, retail stores and even city streets. Fleet Command promises one-touch provisioning, over-the-air software updates, remote management and detailed monitoring dashboards for AI applications.

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OpenFive and AnalogX target chip-to-chip interface

OpenFive, which offers silicon-focused solutions with differentiated IP, along with AnalogX, a provider of SerDes interface IP,  announced a sub-system solution and implementation for Chip-to-Chip (C2C) interface with ultra-low latency and power.

OpenFive’s 8th generation Interlaken Controller IP is silicon-proven on multiple process nodes with tier-1 customers. OpenFive’s 8th gen. Interlaken IP supports from 1 up to 48 SerDes lanes with up to 112G SerDes rates, providing a scalable interface that offers end-to-end reliability using optional re-transmission and flow control mechanisms. For high-frequency native chip interfaces, OpenFive 8th gen Interlaken has been proven to support up to 1.6Tbps data throughput, and optional forward error correction engines (FEC) further provide bit error rate improvements.

AnalogX specializes in ultra-low power SerDes IP with a rich portfolio of interconnectivity solutions ranging from USR, XSR, VSR, to MR applications. AnalogX USR die-to-die (D2D) SerDes offers sub-pico-joule per bit (pJ/bit) and multi-terabit per mm area efficiency. AnalogX XSR/VSR chip-to-chip SerDes offers a1.5pJ/bit solution for low-energy scaling of multiple SoCs in a single PCB while providing approximately one terabit-per-mm area efficiency. AnalogX XSR/VSR configurations support up to 20 parallel lanes with very low latency, and AnalogX multi-protocol SerDes offers 2.5 pJ/bit energy efficiency for PCIe Gen 5 connectivity while offering compatibility with CCIX, CXL, and other standard protocols. AnalogX IPs are currently available across multiple foundries and 22nm, 16nm, 12nm, 7nm, and 6 nm technology nodes.

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AirTrunk to build largest data center in APAC (outside China)

AirTrunk announced plans to build the biggest data centre market in Asia (excluding China) -- a new 300+ megawatt (MW) hyperscale data centre campus in Inzai, Tokyo. The initial ~60 MW phase of the campus is targeted to open in late 2021 to support anchor customer demand.

The data center is the company’s sixth in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, bringing its platform to a total capacity of more than 750 MW across five tier one markets.

“Japan is a highly developed market with strong international connectivity, underpinning its position as a technology and data centre hub in Asia. The rapid increase of cloud adoption in Japan will be enabled by critical infrastructure, including hyperscale data centres like TOK1,” states Robin Khuda, founder and CEO of AirTrunk.

“TOK1 is part of our ongoing commitment to deliver secure, reliable, scalable, and cost-effective infrastructure for our cloud customers in key Asia-Pacific markets. We’re ensuring operational excellence and a consistent experience for our customers across our data centre platform,” said Mr Khuda.

Japanese construction conglomerate, Daiwa House Industry Co. Ltd, has been appointed as the general contractor and will also take a stake in the project. 

Earlier this year, a consortium led by Macquarie Asia Infrastructure Fund 2 (MAIF2), a Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets-managed infrastructure fund, and including Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments), acquired an 88 per cent stake in AirTrunk, valuing the company at more than $A3 billion and providing necessary capital and expertise to further realise AirTrunk’s expansion plans across APAC.

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NeoPhotonics trims costs cutting and announces preliminary results

 NeoPhotonics announced preliminary results for the third quarter 2020 that incorporate cost cutting measures. As previously announced, NeoPhotonics has adopted a conservative approach to exclude future contributions from Huawei in its financial outlook, following the August 17th tightening of Department of Commerce BIS restrictions.

Revenue for Q3 is now expected to be in the range of $101 to $103 million compared to prior guidance of $95 to $105 million.

NeoPhotonics said it has taken steps to tighten production operations, account for Huawei-specific assets and inventory, consolidate Indium Phosphide production and implement an approximately 4% reduction in force. The costs to implement these changes are expected to be approximately $12.1 million, with $1.1 million in severance costs and $11.0 million in inventory and idle asset charges. The company expects to incur approximately $10.7 million of these costs in the third quarter, $0.7 million in the fourth quarter and the remainder as accelerated depreciation charges through 2021.

“Our actions better align our capacity and production infrastructure with expected demand levels, and accelerate our goal of returning to profitability,” said Tim Jenks, Chairman and CEO of NeoPhotonics. “We are maintaining our focus on developing products for next generation coherent systems and modules, wherein our silicon photonics, lasers and advanced hybrid photonic integration technologies provide the highest value, fully supporting our expansion into the data center market with coherent products. We are increasingly optimistic about our ability to drive growth both in the near-term with our 64 Gbaud solutions and in the mid-term with 96 Gbaud solutions and as our 400ZR products ramp in mid-2021. With these changes, we continue to pursue growth opportunities and deploy our best-in-class products and solutions for the highest speed over distance applications, and with a more diverse customer set,” concluded Mr. Jenks.

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Cisco loses patent case with Centripetal Networks

 Cisco Systems was found to have wilfully infringed four patents held by Centripetal Networks, a threat intelligence gateway developer based in Herndon, Virginia.

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ordered Cisco to pay $1.89 billion in damages, according to reporting by Reuters. Cisco is expected to appeal.

https://www.centripetal.ai/

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Intel expands its telco infrastructure portfolio

 Intel announced an expanded lineup of hardware, software and solutions for network infrastructure, including: enhancements to its FlexRAN software reference architecture; Intel virtualized radio access network (vRAN) dedicated accelerator; network-optimized next-generation Intel Xeon Scalable and D processors (code-named “Ice Lake”); and upgraded Intel Select Solutions for Network Function Virtualization Infrastructure (NFVI).

“When you consider the collective impact of the proliferation of fully virtualized cloud architectures combined with the commercialization of 5G, the rise of AI and the growth of the edge, it truly has a multiplier effect that makes each more impactful than it would be on its own. It’s an enormous opportunity for us and our customers to not only deliver new experiences but transform entire industries,” stated Dan Rodriguez, Intel corporate vice president and general manager of the Network Platforms Group.

Expanded portfolio offerings include:

• FlexRAN: Intel’s software reference architecture grew to nearly 100 licensees and added enhancements including optimizations to its massive multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) mid-band pipeline for increased bandwidth and support for ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC.) Amdocs, a licensee, today announced FlexRAN integration with its SmartRAN analytics solution.
• Intel vRAN Dedicated Accelerator ACC100: The low-power and low-cost acceleration solution for vRAN deployments is based on Intel eASIC technology and is sampling to customers. It offloads and accelerates the computing-intensive process of forward error correction. This frees up more processing power within Intel Xeon processors for channel capacity and edge-based services and applications. To bring the product to market, Intel works with leading service providers including Telefonica and various partners, including Altiostar, ASTRI, Baicells, Comba, H3C, HPE, Mavenir, Nokia, QCT, Radisys, Ruijie, Silicom, Supermicro, and ZT Systems.
• Next Generation Intel Xeon processors for network infrastructure: With these processors, customers can use a common architecture across the network for various workloads and performance requirements. Network-optimized 3rd Generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors (code-named “Ice Lake-SP”) are designed for infrastructure use cases that require higher performance per watt, including wireless core, wireless access and network edge workloads and security appliances. 3rd Generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors will ship to customers at the end of the year.  Next-generation Intel Xeon D processors (code-named “Ice Lake-D”) are designed for form factor-constrained environments at the edge and will offer greater levels of integration like built-in networking IP. Intel expects to start shipping these processors to customers in mid-2021.
• Enhanced Intel Select Solutions for network: To improve application efficiency and network performance for high-performance network workloads, Intel Select Solutions for NFVI Red Hat, NFVI Ubuntu and NFVI Forwarding Platform have been upgraded to support the new Intel® Ethernet 800 Series Network Adapter (code-named “Columbiaville”), which delivers increased performance and Dynamic Device Personalization (DDP) to maximize platform performance. These upgraded solutions are coming soon.

https://newsroom.intel.com/news/intel-expands-5g-network-infrastructure-offerings-25b-market

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U.S. DoD backs Intel for semiconductor packaging tech

The U.S. Department of Defense awarded a contract to Intel to enable the U.S. government to access Intel’s state-of-the-art semiconductor packaging capabilities in Arizona and Oregon.

The project, which is supported by the DoD's State-of-the-Art Heterogeneous Integration Prototype (SHIP) program,  is executed by the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division, and administered by the National Security Technology Accelerator.

The second phase of SHIP will develop prototypes of multichip packages and accelerate advancement of interface standards, protocols and security for heterogeneous systems. SHIP prototypes will integrate special-purpose government chips with Intel’s advanced, commercially available silicon products, including field programmable gate arrays, application-specific integrated circuits and CPUs. This combination of technologies provides new paths for the U.S. government’s industry partners to develop and modernize the government’s mission-critical systems while taking advantage of Intel’s U.S. manufacturing capabilities.

Heterogeneous packaging allows the assembly of multiple, separately manufactured integrated circuit dies (chips) onto a single package to increase performance while reducing power, size and weight. SHIP provides the U.S. government access to Intel’s advanced heterogeneous packaging technologies, including embedded multi-die interconnect bridge (EMIB), 3D Foveros and Co-EMIB (combining both EMIB and Foveros).

“Intel and the U.S. government share a priority to advance domestic semiconductor manufacturing technology. The SHIP program will enable the Department of Defense to take advantage of Intel’s advanced semiconductor packaging capabilities, diversifying their supply chain and protecting their intellectual property while also supporting ongoing semiconductor R&D in the U.S. and preserving critical capabilities onshore,” stated Jim Brinker, president and general manager of Intel Federal LLC.

“To ensure that the U.S. defense industry base can continue to deliver state-of-the-art electronics for national security, it is imperative that the Department of Defense (DoD) partners with leading U.S. semiconductor companies," Nicole Petta, principal director of microelectronics, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. "The DoD microelectronics roadmap recognizes the importance of strategic partnerships with industry. The roadmap also prioritizes and recognizes that as process scaling slows, heterogeneous assembly technology is a critical investment for both the DoD and our nation. SHIP directly contributes to advancing the objectives outlined in the DoD roadmap and the DoD looks forward to working with Intel, a world leader in this technology.”

http://www.intel.com

In 2018, Intel demonstrated a new 3D packaging technology, called "Foveros," which for the first time brings 3D stacking to logic-on-logic integration. Foveros will will allow products to be broken up into smaller “chiplets,” where I/O, SRAM and power delivery circuits can be fabricated in a base die and high-performance logic chiplets are stacked on top. The first Foveros product will combine a high-performance 10nm compute-stacked chiplet with a low-power 22FFL base die. 

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France completes auction of 3.4 – 3.8 GHz band spectrum

France completed a multi-stage auction of 3.4 – 3.8 GHz band spectrum for 5G services.

At the close of the main auction, the winning bidders have committed to paying a total €2,786,000,000 for the 310 MHz of spectrum to be awarded.

Now that the amount of spectrum to be awarded to each of the winning bidders is known, a “positioning” auction will be held in October to determine how their frequencies will be positioned in the 3.4 – 3.8 GHz band. This auction will give the winning bidders an opportunity to express their preferences regarding their position on the band, and their position with respect to the other winning bidders. Once this final stage has been completed, Arcep will award the winning bidders licences to use 3.4 – 3.8 GHz band frequencies.

https://www.arcep.fr/actualites/les-communiques-de-presse/detail/n/5g-011020.html

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Nokia signed 17 new 5G commercial deals in Q3

Nokia signed 17 new 5G commercial deals in Q3 giving the company 100 commercial 5G deals with individual customers and a total of 160 commercial 5G engagements, including paid trials.

Nokia said it is also gaining traction amongst enterprises. Enterprise customers now make up 12% of Nokia’s 5G deals, with recent private wireless deployments including Deutsche Bahn, Toyota Production Engineering and Sandvik. Nokia also boasts a 180-strong portfolio of private wireless customers, many of whom are expected to migrate to 5G.

• 160 commercial 5G engagements refer to all engagements with customers, from signed contracts (deals) to paid trials
• 100 commercial 5G deals refer to contracted customers, with 17 since Q2
• 34 live 5G networks refer to both 5G public and private wireless networks which are now operational
• 88% of commercial deals are with operators, 12% with enterprises

https://www.nokia.com/networks/5g/5g-in-action/

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Amdocs integrates with Intel's FlexRAN software architecture

Amdocs has integrated its SmartRAN optimization solution with Intel’s FlexRAN software reference architecture, which serves as a blueprint to help speed development of virtualized RAN (vRAN) solutions. 

Amdocs' SmartRAN is a vRAN optimization solution that enables mobile operators to better fulfill service level objectives and deliver exceptional user experiences across their 5G vRAN by embedding intelligence in every layer of the RAN. Integrating Intel’s FlexRAN with machine learning libraries into the solution further enhances SmartRAN’s data analytics and management capabilities so that customers can better tune their network performance. SmartRAN processes massive sets of data with an innovative approach that leverages machine-learning and real-time analytics to enable service providers to flexibly and automatically configure network parameters and perform closed-loop optimization of services and network resources.

“Service providers are driving open, virtualized and distributed network architectures for 5G to better address the performance demands of new immersive services as well as meet customer needs with more pragmatic network investments and streamlined operations,” said Anthony Goonetilleke, Group President of Media, Network and Technology at Amdocs. 

“Communications service providers are embracing the use of virtualization across the entire network, including the RAN, for increased agility and cost efficiencies as they support a range of new use cases and services,” said Cristina Rodriguez, vice president and general manager of Intel’s Wireless Access Network Division. “Using FlexRAN to build a cloud native, virtualized RAN based on Intel Xeon processors, in combination with Amdocs SmartRAN, service providers can more quickly deploy new analytics capabilities that optimize the end user’s quality of experience.”

Amdocs is also developing its SmartRAN solution to support testing use cases that are established by the O-RAN Alliance, starting with the massive multi-antenna use case. 

https://www.amdocs.com/sites/default/files/amdocs-intel-wp.pdf

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Nokia automates 4G/5G slicing

Nokia is introducing network management, controller and orchestration capabilities to enable the automation of 4G and 5G network slicing across all network domains, including RAN, transport and core. 

Nokia’s new automation capabilities, which comply with the 3GPP and IETF slicing specifications, are an extension of its 4G/5G end-to-end network slicing solution announced in February and the slice orchestrator announced in June2. First deliveries are planned by the end of 2020.

Nokia’s new slicing management solution consists of radio, transport and core domain controllers and assurance tools. Controllers support real-time slice operations and automation for the creation, modification and deletion of a large number of slices in their respective, multivendor domain. Operators can create different customer policies and group profiles for slices with different network performance, quality, routing and security capabilities. This enables them to provide new slicing services for small, medium or large enterprises, private wireless, Internet of Things, fixed wireless access, content and applications.

Sasa Nijemcevic, Head of Network Automation for Nokia’s IP/Optical Networks business, said: “Nokia is the first vendor to provide slicing in LTE and 5G networks in a multivendor network environment. By adding extreme automation capabilities, we are offering operators a single, modular solution that helps them deliver a new wealth of services at unprecedented speeds.”

Nokia’s network domain controllers and assurance tools simplify operations by abstracting the complexity of network functions for the services layer:

• 
  
• The end-to-end service orchestration sends declarative instructions to the domain controllers through open APIs.
• Each domain controller then determines how the network slices will be implemented and operated within its domain to support the end-to-end SLAs.
• Each domain embeds assurance capabilities to automatically collect, monitor, analyze and report Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) data per slice and apply closed-loop optimization to ensure continuous SLA adherence.

The new capabilities consist of software packages for Nokia’s existing NetAct and SON/Self-Organizing Networks (radio) and Network Services Platform/NSP (transport and core) operations and assurance products. These capabilities work in conjunction with Nokia’s Digital Operations Center service orchestration software to complete the round-trip process to design, deploy, optimize and assure slice-based services.

Nokia said the solution provides sliced mobile broadband

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Enea acquires Aptilo for Wi-Fi policy control

 Enea  has acquired Aptilo, a privately-held provider of policy and access control solutions for carrier Wi-Fi and IoT, for SEK 92 million which corresponds to an enterprise value of SEK 150 million (US$16.83 million) on a cash and debt free basis.

Aptilo’s flagship product is the Aptilo Service Management Platform (SMP), a carrier-class system for management of data services, with advanced functions for policy and access control. Aptilo SMP is used in large-scale deployments of carrier Wi-Fi, while Aptilo SMP IoT is a solution for connectivity and security management over both cellular and Wi-Fi technologies.

Aptilo’s solutions have been deployed by more than 100 operators in 75 countries and are sold both directly to operators and indirectly through technology and channel partners. More than half of Aptilo’s total revenue is recurring, and the products are sold either as software licenses, as managed services, or in a cloud-based SaaS (software as a service) model to a growing number of customers.

“I’m pleased to announce this acquisition, which complements Enea in an excellent way,” says Jan Häglund, President and CEO of Enea. “Aptilo is a leader in Wi-Fi and IoT connectivity management. The acquisition strengthens our data management portfolio, expands our reach with existing and new customers, and creates interesting business opportunities in the fields of 5G, Internet of Things, and SaaS.”

Key figures and facts about Aptilo

• Privately held company with Norvestor V L.P. as the majority shareholder
• Founded in 2001
• Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden
• Sales offices in Dallas, USA, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• Net Sales SEK 90.0 million (84.4) in 2019 (2018), based on local Swedish GAAP (K3).

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ADVA delivers timing over PTP-optimized optical transport channels

ADVA introduced a mechanism that uses PTP-optimized optical transport to provide accurate synchronization from the core of the network all the way to the edge for 5G, smart grid and other time-sensitive applications. 

ADVA said its TrueTime technology offers new levels of robust and precise synchronization by using a bidirectional channel to deliver SyncE and PTP traffic. Accuracy is ensured by PRTC/ePRTC core clocks featuring OSA 5430/40 in combination with OSA 3230/3350 cesium atomic clocks. Closely-spaced, out-of-band wavelengths help TrueTime tackle asymmetric delay and leave all other channels available for customer traffic. Every element of the TrueTime solution is transparently controlled by ADVA’s Ensemble Controller and Ensemble Sync Director management system, featuring Syncjack monitoring technology. 

“Our TrueTime solution addresses some of the most urgent challenges for operators of critical infrastructure. It enables highly accurate synchronization throughout the transport network and offers a future-proof way to tackle the risk of reliance on satellite-based timing. From governments concerned with the growing risk of blocked GNSS signals to mobile network operators rolling out next-generation services, our TrueTime™ technology will prove invaluable,” said Henning Hinderthür, VP, product line management, ADVA. “TrueTime combines our PTP-optimized FSP 3000 optical transport with our ultra-precise Oscilloquartz technology, including PTP grandmasters with ePRTC capabilities in the core and boundary clock class D technology in metro locations. This even reduces cost and complexity by eliminating the need for unnecessary equipment, enabling operators to streamline their timing infrastructure.”

http://www.adva.com

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Jabil Photonics tests its CFP2 Digital Coherent Optics 100G/200G module

 Jabil successfully completed live network trials for the application of its CFP2 Digital Coherent Optics (DCO) 100G/200G module in unamplified metro regional link scenarios.

The first network scenario showcased an unamplified metro Wavelength-Division Multiplexing (WDM) point-to-point link with 8 channels at 100Gb/s rate with the module achieving a 32dB error-free link (approximately 130Km single mode fiber) using the 100G Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) with Soft-Decision Forward Error Correction (SD-FEC) mode enablement.

The second network scenario for the same CFP2 DCO module involved a single channel 100Gb/s application reaching a 38dB 100G error-free link (more than 150Km single mode fiber) with the same working mode.

“The success of these network scenario trials demonstrates that Jabil’s module design can achieve these significant results, positioning the 100G/200G CFP2 DCO module as an optimized solution for unamplified metro datacenter interconnect and 5G networks,” said Stefano Schiavoni, vice president and GM of Jabil’s Photonics business unit.

https://www.jabil.com/industries/photonics.html

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Equinix completes acquisition of 13 data centers from Bell Canada

Equinix completed its previously announced acquisition of 13 data centers in Canada from Bell. The all-cash deal was valued at CA$1.041 billion and includes more than 600 customers, of which more than 500 are new to Equinix, and approximately 1.2 million gross square feet of data center space. Equinix and Bell have entered into an strategic partnership to integrated networking and hybrid multicloud services that combine Bell’s telecommunication services and technology expertise with Equinix’s global platform of interconnected data center and business ecosystems.  

Equinix now operates 15 data centers in Canada. Equinix also announced that Andrew Eppich, a six-year veteran of Equinix originally from Toronto, has been appointed Managing Director, Canada. 

Finally, Equinix and Bell have begun a strategic partnership that delivers industry-leading joint offers in Canada and globally. This partnership will enable enterprises in Canada to leverage integrated networking and hybrid multicloud services, combining Bell’s telecommunication services and technology expertise with Equinix’s global platform of interconnected data center and business ecosystems.  

Equinix to acquire 13 data centers from Bell Canada

Monday, June 01, 2020  Data Centers, Equinix  

Equinix agreed to acquire a portfolio of 13 data centers across Canada from BCE Inc. ("Bell") for US$750 million (CA$1,041 million) in cash.

The 13 data center sites, which represent 25 Bell data center facilities, are expected to generate approximately US$105 million annualized revenue, which represents a purchase multiple of approximately 15x EV / adjusted EBITDA.  The deal includes approximately 1.2 million gross square feet of data center space and 400,000 square feet of colocation space.

The deal will expand Equinix's coverage in Canada coast to coast, making it a market leader in data center and interconnection services. In addition to adding new capacity in Toronto, Ontario, where Equinix currently operates two International Business Exchange data centers, it will extend Equinix's interconnection services to seven new metros. These metros include Calgary, Alberta; Kamloops and Vancouver, British Columbia; Millidgeville, New Brunswick; Montreal, Quebec; Ottawa, Ontario; and Winnipeg, Manitoba.

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Oracle activates cloud data center in Dubai

 Oracle announced the availability of the first of two planned second-generation Cloud regions in the UAE. Located in Dubai, the new Cloud region will offer all Oracle Cloud services, including Oracle Autonomous Database and Oracle Cloud Applications.  Etisalat is the telecom partner for the Oracle Cloud region in Dubai.

This brings the nuber of Oracle Cloud Regions worldwide to 26.  Oracle has previously outlined plans to to have 36 Cloud regions worldwide by July 2021. 

“The contribution of digital economy to the UAE’s GDP stood at 4.3 per cent in 2019, and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has set a target to double this contribution by enhancing the country’s digital readiness. Oracle’s second-generation cloud region in Dubai will help accelerate the digital transformation initiatives of organizations across the UAE’ government entities, large enterprise and SMEs, thus directly supporting the country’s economic vision,” said Abdul Rahman Al Thehaiban, senior vice president – Technology, MEA & CEE, Oracle.

“With this strategic announcement, Etisalat will be part of Oracle’s growth path on bringing the next generation of cloud to the region. During this unprecedented period, global markets are looking at enhancing digital services availability and adding new capacities for businesses and the entire community. The partnership with Oracle further complements the existing capabilities of Etisalat which brings flexibility and availability for the private and public sector through the deployment of Oracle’s next generation of cloud services,” said Salvador Anglada, Group Chief Business Officer, Etisalat.

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Cisco to acquire Portshift for Kubernetes-native security platform

 Cisco agreed to acquire Portshift, a start-up based in Tel Aviv, Israel, offering a Kubernetes-native security platform. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Portshift is focused on application security solutions. Its platform adopts an agentless approach using a Kubernetes admission controller for seamless integration and native enforcement. This serves as Kubernetes-native guardrails for deployed containers.

In a blog post, Cisco's Liz Centoni writes that "Portshift aligns to Cisco’s approach of providing secure connectivity between users, devices and apps, wherever they reside; visibility and actionable insights from the end user to the application; a simplified consumption model that includes cloud-first Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) capabilities; commitment to an open source and open standards philosophy; and breaking down the siloes between developers, security teams, infrastructure teams, operations and SRE teams."

https://www.portshift.io/

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VMware to acquire SaltStack for automation platform

VMware has agreed to acquire SaltStack, a developer of security software for event-driven IT automation, remote task execution, and configuration management. Financial terms were not disclosed.

SaltStack, which is based in Utah, offers an open source automation platform written in Python for configuration management. Year to date, the company reports 17M+ downloads and more than 260 new contributors for its project.

https://www.saltstack.com/blog/salt-community-announcement-vmware-acquisition-news/

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UK's Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre cites flaws

 The UK's Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre (HCSEC) Oversight Board issued its sixth annual report concerning risks arising from the involvement of Huawei in parts of the

United Kingdom’s critical national infrastructure. The report discusses a security flaw of "national significance" with currently deployed equipment and well as systemic problems in the way Huawei has mitigated previous problems.

The HCSEC report states it "has not yet seen anything to give it confidence in Huawei’s capacity to successfully complete the elements of its transformation programme that it has proposed as a means of addressing these underlying defects. The Board will require sustained evidence of better software engineering and cyber security quality verified by HCSEC and NCSC."

In addition, the Oversight Board stated it "can only provide limited assurance that all risks to UK national security from Huawei’s involvement in the UK’s critical networks can be sufficiently mitigated long-term."

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/huawei-cyber-security-evaluation-centre-oversight-board-annual-report-2020

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