Dell PowerEdge Servers for OpenRAN Edge Deployments
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SOLUTION BRIEF1•1Dell PowerEdge Servers forSummary
Dell Technologies is helping to shape the future of Open RAN solutions with our partnerships and our high performance, purpose-built XR11 and XR12 PowerEdge servers designed for Open RAN and edge deployments.
Introduction
The future of telecommunications includes an open, cloud-native architecture within an open ecosystem of vendors working together to build this new architecture. One of the more exciting aspects of this open future is Open Radio Access Networks (Open RAN). Open RAN is an industry-wide movement that promotes the adoption of open and interoperable solutions at the RAN.
Dell Technologies is helping to shape the future of Open RAN solutions with our partnerships and our high-performance, purpose-built XR11 and XR12 PowerEdge Servers designed for Open RAN and edge deployments.
PowerEdge XR11/XR12: Designed for O-RAN
Open RAN provides opportunities to replace the proprietary, purpose-built RAN equipment of the past with standardized, virtualized hardware that can be deployed anywhere—at the far edge, regional edge, or centralized data centers. Also, intelligent controllers can provide optimized performance and enhanced automation capabilities to improve operational efficiency.
In the O-RAN frameworks, you can separate the baseband unit (BBU) of the traditional RAN into virtualized distributed unit (vDU) and virtualized centralized unit (vCU) components. You can also scale these components independently as control- and user-plane traffic requirements dictate. When building an open-hardware platform for a vRAN architecture, you must consider six critical factors:
Form factor | Environment | Components |
Security | Automation and management | Supply chain |
With the growing number of edge deployments required to support 5G O-RAN services, edge-optimized cloud infrastructure is essential. These six factors ensure that telco providers build their 5G RAN on a scalable, highly available, and long-term sustainable foundation. Dell Technologies considered each of these factors when designing their PowerEdge XR11 and XR12 servers. These servers are built specifically for O-RAN and edge environments, including multi-access edge computing (MEC) and content delivery network (CDN) applications. The following sections examine how the XR11 and XR12 servers meet, and in many cases exceed, the criteria for O-RAN and edge deployments across these six critical factors.
Best-of-breed components built for harsh environments
Unlike data centers, which are carefully controlled environments, RAN components are often subject to extreme temperature changes and less-than-ideal conditions such as humidity, dust, and vibration. For years, the telecommunications industry has used the Network Equipment-Building System (NEBS) as a standard for telco-grade equipment design. The PowerEdge XR11 and XR12 are designed to exceed NEBS Level 3 compliance (meets or exceeds the GR-63-CORE and GR-1089-CORE standards). They also meet military and marine standards for shock, vibration, sand, dust, and other environmental challenges.
Fully operational within extreme temperature ranges from -5° C (23°F) to 55° C (131° F), you can deploy XR11/12 servers in almost any environment, even where exposure to heat, dust, and humidity are factors. The XR11/12 series is designed to withstand earthquakes and is fully tested to the NEBS Seismic Zone 4 levels. As a result, you can trust Dell PowerEdge servers to keep working no matter where they are deployed.
The PowerEdge XR11 and XR12 provide significant flexibility over purpose-built, all-in-one appliances by using the industry’s most-advanced, best-of-breed components. Also, by providing multiple CPU, storage, peripheral, and acceleration options, PowerEdge XR11/12 servers enable telecommunications providers to deploy their vRAN systems in many different environments.
Both models feature the following components:
- 3rd Generation Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors
- Up to 8 DIMMs
- PCI Express 4.0 enabled expansion slots
- Choice of network interface technologies
- Up to 90 TB storage
One example test shows the performance possibilities that the PowerEdge XR12 enabled by 3rd Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors offers: The solution delivered 2x the massive MIMO throughput for a 5G vRAN deployment compared to the previous generation.1
Dell security, management systems, and supply-chain advantage
PowerEdge XR11/12 servers are designed with a security-first approach to deliver proactive safeguards through integrated hardware and software protection. This security extends from a hardware-based silicon root of trust to asset retirement across the entire supply chain. From the moment a PowerEdge server leaves our factory, we can detect and verify whether a server has been tampered with, providing a foundation of trust that continues for the life of the server. The Dell Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC) is the source of this day-zero trust. iDRAC checks the firmware against the factory configuration down to the smallest detail after the XR11/12 server is plugged in. If you change the memory, iDRAC detects it. If you change the firmware, iDRAC detects it. Also, we build every PowerEdge server a cyber-resilient architecture2 that includes firmware signatures, drift detection, and BIOS recovery.
Besides providing proactive and comprehensive security, PowerEdge XR11/12 servers combine ease-of-management with automation to reduce operational complexity and cost while accelerating time-to-market for new services. Dell OpenManage provides a single systems-management platform across all Dell components. This platform makes it easier for telecommunications providers to manage their hardware components remotely, from configuration to security patches. Also, Dell delivers powerful analytics capabilities to help manage server data and cloud storage. The iDRAC agent-less server monitoring also allows telecommunications providers to proactively detect and mitigate potential server issues before they impact production traffic. By analyzing telemetry data, iDRAC can detect the root cause for poor server performance and identify cluster events that can predict hardware failure in the future.
In the last year, the importance of a secure and stable supply chain has become apparent while many manufacturers struggle to adapt to widespread supply-chain disruption. As telecommunications providers look to ramp up 5G services, they require partners they can depend on to deliver, innovate, scale, and support their plans for the future. Because we are the world’s largest supplier of data-center servers, telecommunications providers can depend on Dell Technologies. We operate in 180 countries worldwide, including 25 unique manufacturing locations, 50 distribution and configuration centers, and over 900 parts-distribution centers. Our global, secure supply chain means that telecommunications providers can grow their business with confidence.
Dell Open RAN reference architecture
Dell Technologies does not stop at the server. We work closely with our open partner ecosystem to integrate and validate our technology in multivendor solutions that provide a best-of-breed, end-to-end vRAN system. You will find this partnership at work in our latest technology preview of the Dell Open RAN reference architecture featuring VMware Telco Cloud Platform (TCP) 1.0, Intel FlexRAN technology, and vRAN software from Mavenir. Our O-RAN solution architecture delivers the disaggregated components that compose the RAN network—vRU, vCU and vDU. Also you can deploy it in hybrid (private and public) clouds plus as bare-metal server environments. Having a pre-built, integrated solution allows telecommunications providers to deploy O-RAN solutions quickly and confidently, knowing that they have the power of our global supply chain and expert services behind them.
Conclusion
With many initial 5G core network transformations complete, telecommunications providers are now turning their attention to the RAN. For them, there are several paths to choose. They can continue to work with legacy vendors by growing out their proprietary RAN systems, missing out on the opportunity to build a best-of-breed RAN solution from multiple partners. Or, they can follow the path of Open RAN with Dell Technologies as a trusted partner to assemble and manage the right pieces from the industry’s O-RAN leaders.
Dell PowerEdge XR11/12 servers are the latest examples of our commitment to open 5G solutions. These servers are built by telco experts specifically for telco edge applications, using a security-first approach and featuring high- performance compute, storage, and analytics components. Also, they have been bundled with our broader Open RAN reference architecture to form the foundation of a seamless, complete vRAN solution that includes hardware, software, and services.
O-RAN is more than the edge of the future. It is a competitive edge for telecommunications providers that must quickly deliver and monetize 5G services, from private mobile networks to high-performance computing applications. Make Dell Technologies your competitive edge, and ask your Dell representative about our portfolio of telco-grade edge solutions.
1 PowerEdge Cyber Resilient Architecture Infographic
2 Bringing high performance and reliability to the edge with rugged Dell EMC PowerEdge XR servers
OLUTION BRIEF1•1Dell PowerEdge Servers for OpenRANEdge Deployments
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