Application Infrastructure, Data Storage
businesswire | August 01, 2023
Elisa Oyj, a leading telecommunications company, has achieved a significant milestone in the field of edge computing with the successful deployment of its first fully automated edge data center site, which is the second edge site to go into commercial production this year. This groundbreaking project combines Wind River Studio Cloud Platform as the production-grade distributed Kubernetes solution for managing cloud infrastructure, User Plane Function (UPF) application from Elisa’s current 5G core vendor, and the advanced capabilities of Wind River Studio Conductor, an industry leading platform that delivers a single pane of glass to manage and automate applications deployment in large-scale distributed environments.
The deployment of this state-of-the-art edge data center site represents a significant achievement to strengthen Elisa’s position as the leading digital service provider in automating operations. It showcases the company's commitment to embracing next-generation technologies to unlock the potential of edge computing for a wide range of industries, including telecommunications, transportation, healthcare, and manufacturing.
”We are delighted to continue our efficient collaboration with Wind River and take the first Fully Automated Edge Data Center into commercial service. Constant automation development is our key to future success. Combined with Wind River´s distributed cloud capabilities, we are able to further improve our customer satisfaction by reducing the time to deploy and adding the quality of the process. This strengthens Elisa’s position as the leading digital service provider in automating operations and edge deployments," says Markus Kinnunen, Vice President, Cloud Services, Elisa.
“As a leader in the 5G landscape that powers the majority of 5G vRAN/O-RAN deployments with global operators, our Wind River Studio capabilities address service providers’ complex challenge of deploying and managing a physically distributed, ultra-low latency cloud-native infrastructure,” said Avijit Sinha, Chief Product Officer, Wind River. “Elisa is an innovator, and with their recent milestone, they are helping to advance the industry.”
Key to this achievement is the collaboration between the industry leaders. Wind River Studio provides a fully cloud-native, Kubernetes- and container-based architecture, based on open source, for the development, deployment, operations, and servicing of distributed edge networks at scale. Elisa's 5G core UPF application enhances network performance, ensuring efficient and reliable data transmission and processing at the edge. Leveraging the advanced capabilities of Wind River Studio Conductor, the deployment process becomes fully automated, enabling rapid and efficient provisioning of edge data center resources.
The major outcomes can be grouped in three areas: time to prepare, time to deploy and quality of the process:
Time to prepare: The biggest savings came from parameter settings followed by environment preparation work. The team was able to execute hundreds of tests and scripts before going into live network in the same amount of time that it would typically take to manually run much fewer tests in the traditional model.
Time to deploy: The overall Operator time, measured in terms of staff hours, for commissioning the edge DC site from preparation, parameter settings to complete installation and testing is reduced by 90% as compared to doing the very same tasks manually. Furthermore, the overall deployment time is reduced by around 50% thanks to the automation of the processes.
Quality of the process: Finally, automation brings in additional benefits where multiple tasks can now be run in parallel with minimal probability of human errors, reducing time to service and enhancing network quality.
The successful implementation of this milestone project paves the way for future advancements in edge computing by Elisa. It sets a precedent for the seamless integration of Studio Cloud Platform, critical applications, and automation technologies, empowering industries to accelerate digital transformation and unlock new possibilities.
The collaborative effort involved in this achievement underscores the commitment of Elisa and its technology partner Wind River to drive innovation and push the boundaries of what is possible in the world of edge computing. Elisa continues to position itself as a leader in cutting-edge technologies, driving economic growth and benefits to the society.
AboutWind River
Wind River is a global leader in delivering software for mission-critical intelligent systems. For 40 years, the company has been an innovator and pioneer, powering billions of devices and systems that require the highest levels of security, safety, and reliability. Wind River software and expertise are accelerating digital transformation across industries, including automotive, aerospace, defense, industrial, medical, and telecommunications. The company offers a comprehensive portfolio supported by world-class professional services and support and a broad partner ecosystem.
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Hyper-Converged Infrastructure, Storage Management
prnewswire | August 10, 2023
Netrality Data Centers, the largest, privately held owner and operator of core interconnection facilities in the U.S., announced the addition of MOD Mission Critical, a global infrastructure Platform as a Service (PaaS) company and operator of PaaSPort™, an easy-to-use multi-facility, multicloud and multi-network ecosystem platform, to its 1301 Fannin data center in Houston, TX.
MOD Mission Critical's new deployment provides 1301 Fannin customers access to a global platform as a service network, MOD PaaSPort™, offering a full suite of managed colocation, bare metal, and connectivity solutions. PaaSPort™ provides customers with an easy-to-use interface to order multicloud, hybrid cloud, and private cloud connectivity solutions across the globe – along with the ability to order an array of services designed to enable multi-facility and multi-networking solution deployments. MOD can serve customers starting from a single rack unit with 10 Gbps of Dedicated Internet Access (DIA), providing a reliable option for companies seeking robust colocation and interconnection solutions.
"Partnering with providers like MOD Mission Critical, aligns perfectly with our commitment to provide our customers with a diverse array of high quality and comprehensive managed solutions," says Amber Caramella, Chief Revenue Officer at Netrality Data Centers. "We look forward to the collaborative opportunities ahead and the positive impact MOD Mission Critical's deployment will have on our customers' success."
"MOD's fractional service offerings combined with our PaaSPort™ platform reinforces Netrality's 1301 Fannin facility as a robust, globally accessible site, with a multitude of cloud, connectivity, and managed service offerings for nearly any company of any size," comments Michael Hollander, Chief Executive Officer at MOD Mission Critical.
The partnership with Netrality Data Centers signifies MOD Mission Critical's first data center partnership in the Houston metro. At 24 stories and approximately 1.1 million square feet, 1301 Fannin is one of Houston's most fiber-dense, network-neutral facilities and a central hub for data and internet traffic in the region. Its robust network infrastructure enables unparalleled interconnectivity, resiliency, and business continuity for carriers, service providers, and enterprise customers across the Houston area. In addition to its data center offering, the state-of-the-art mixed-use facility features custom IT, office, and retail space for lease.
About Netrality Data Centers
Netrality Data Centers owns and operates strategic interconnection data centers and Meet Me Rooms, providing a mix of colocation, powered shell, and wholesale data center solutions driven by fiber-dense, network-rich interconnection environments. Today, Netrality's eighteen properties span 3.3 million square feet and over 100 megawatts of capacity across North America.
Well-capitalized with a long-term investment from Macquarie Asset Management, Netrality is the largest privately held owner-operator of core interconnection facilities in the United States. Netrality acquires strategically located core interconnection data centers that provide best in market network resiliency, ensuring always-on connectivity for latency-sensitive and mission-critical businesses.
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Application Infrastructure, Storage Management
prnewswire | August 24, 2023
Scala Data Centers, the leading Latin American platform of sustainable data centers in the Hyperscale market, is building its first data center in Mexico, SMEXTP01, with an initial investment of approximately US$ 80 million. The venture, located in the municipality of Tepotzotlán, about 25 miles from the country's capital in Mexico City (CDMX), will have an initial critical capacity of 5MW reinforcing Scala's strategy of enabling new markets in Latin America to meet the massive demands being made by large cloud and content providers, known as Hyperscale.
Scala's new site is projected to begin operations in Q4 2023 and is already anchored by a large Hyperscale client. With 142,133 sqft (about 13.2 thousand square meters) of built area, SMEXTP01 HyperEdge data center will offer maximum customization and modularity and will be supplied with 100% renewable and certified energy, in line with the company's portfolio.
"This new project underscores our commitment to enabling new markets in Latin America, either in unexplored locations or in regions with data center presence, but still lacking a dedicated approach to large IT capacities that truly serve the Hyperscale segment," explains Marcos Peigo, CEO and Co-Founder at Scala. "We are proud to spearhead this expansion and create unique conditions for massive colocation clients in the region through innovation, energy efficiency, and sustainable technology," he adds.
Geographically, Mexico has a relevant and strategic position in the IT infrastructure segment. As the second largest data center and cloud market in Latin America, the country has robust growth rates of around 22% and 25% per year, respectively, and excellent connectivity infrastructure. Currently, there are 11 submarine cables connecting Mexico to the United States and the rest of the Americas. Alongside Chile, where Scala also operates and invests, Mexico is one of the only countries in the region that will have a direct connection via submarine cable to the Asian market. Scala's SMEXTP01 in Tepotzotlán city will uniquely bring together an ideal scenario for the hyperscale market - energy availability, connectivity, and proximity to a large consumer market for critical IT infrastructure.
In addition to the investment in SMEXTP01, Scala continues its accelerated expansion plan, with the construction of new sites at Tamboré Campus (São Paulo, Brazil), Porto Alegre city (Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil), Lampa (Chile), as well as advanced projects to implement other data centers in Fortaleza city (Ceará state, Brazil), Mexico and Colombia. Since the company's inception in 2020, Scala has invested more than R$ 8 billion (US$ 1,6 billion) in its projects in Latin America and expects to reach 500MW of distributed capacity over the next five years, in four countries in which it operates. In 2023, the company started operating three state-of-the-art data centers in Latin America, located in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), (13.2 MW of IT), Tamboré (Brazil) with 6MW of IT and Curauma (Chile) offering 5MW of IT.
About Scala Data Centers
Scala Data Centers is the leading Latin American platform of sustainable data centers in the Hyperscale market. Headquartered in Brazil and founded by DigitalBridge, it was developed to meet and exceed the growing demand for digital access in Latin America. Scala has a highly qualified team of over 800 professionals and applies a flexible and innovative approach to providing exceptional quality colocation services to hyperscale clients, cloud-based software and service providers, and large enterprises. We customize state-of-the-art solutions for each client in the construction of the latest generation data centers, with high availability, the best energy efficiency rates, and superior density. All this allied to the best sustainability practices guided by our ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) program.
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