The O-RAN Alliance creates the open interfaces between the O-RU, O-DU, and O-CU that can be disaggregated and deployed independently. In the O-RAN frameworks, the Baseband Unit (BBU) of the traditional RAN can be separated into virtualized Distributed Unit (vDU) and virtualized Centralized Unit (vCU) components that can be scaled independently as control and user plane traffic requirements dictate. In building an open hardware platform for a vRAN architecture, six critical factors need to be considered:
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 took each of these factors into consideration when designing their PowerEdge XR11 and XR12 servers, which are built specifically for O-RAN and edge environments, including multi-access edge computing (MEC) and content delivery network (CDN) applications. Let’s take a closer look at 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.