Dell Technologies and AT&T Collaborate on Open Source Edge Computing and 5G Software Infrastructure

HOPKINTON, Mass. and DALLAS, Aug. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --

News summary:

Dell Technologies and AT&T to:

• Pursue a common vision for network virtualization and disaggregation to accelerate open source technologies supporting Dell Technologies infrastructure within AT&T's Network Cloud powered by Airship 
• Deliver open source automation capabilities across infrastructure stack – from bare metal to network to storage – enabling operational re-tooling for quick new service delivery
• Catalyze broader Airship ecosystem and fast-track Airship 2.0 release
• Jointly enhance additional open source efforts including Metal3-io and OpenStack Ironic, integrate Kubernetes Cluster API

Full story:

Dell Technologies and AT&T* are jointly exploring the development of key open infrastructure technology areas for the next-generation network edge that will be required by service providers to support new use cases and service opportunities in a cloud-oriented 5G world.

Realizing the full potential of 5G innovation

5G is not simply an evolution from 4G. 5G requires massive transformation. It demands new, distributed architectures that use software-defined, disaggregated and open infrastructure to automate the delivery and management of mobile services and new analytics-driven telemetry to ensure consistent service levels.

The goal of edge computing is to move compute closer to the end user and applications, creating a low-latency environment for a new class of cloud-native applications. Combining edge computing and 5G extends cloud and "IT-centric" requirements beyond traditional fixed-function hardware to deliver more dynamic, agile edge compute, storage and networking solutions on an unprecedented scale. To capitalize on the new business opportunities that edge computing and 5G will create, communication service providers need open, validated, industry-standard architectures, combined with software-defined networking (SDN), network functions virtualization (NFV), cloud-native applications, and Multi-access edge computing (MEC).

Combining their respective expertise, Dell Technologies and AT&T will collaborate in the open source community to:

• Align on an overall vision of network disaggregation and accelerate the deployment of open infrastructure and AT&T Network Cloud utilizing Airship – a collection of loosely coupled, but interoperable, open source tools that declaratively automate cloud provisioning and life-cycle management utilizing containers as the unit of software delivery.
• Catalyze the broader Airship community to accelerate Airship toward a 2.0 release, delivering a streamlined aggregator of best-of-breed open technologies for declaratively deploying and managing Kubernetes environments and cloud software.
• Jointly develop and enhance additional open source efforts, including Metal3-io and OpenStack Ironic, and integrate the Kubernetes Cluster API.
• Deliver open source automation capabilities across the stack – from bare metal to network to storage – on Dell Technologies infrastructure.

"Dell Technologies' addition to the Airship community reaffirms the industry's growing trust and investment in the open infrastructure model," said Amy Wheelus, vice president, AT&T Network Cloud. "This collaboration will not only enable us to accelerate the AT&T Network Cloud on the Dell Technologies infrastructure, but also further the broader community goal of making it as simple as possible for operators to deploy and manage open infrastructure in support of SDN and other workloads."

"Dell Technologies is working closely with AT&T to combine our joint telco industry best practices with decades of data center transformation experience to help service providers quickly roll out new breeds of experiential Edge and 5G services," said Kevin Shatzkamer, vice president, Dell EMC Service Provider Solutions. "As the world leader in servers, storage and personal computers, Dell's world class supply chain is best positioned to deliver the cost structure, predictability and access to emerging infrastructure technologies required to enable the transition to a more open, disaggregated mobile network."

Additional resources:

• Dell Technologies Service Provider
• Dell Technologies Edge Computing Solutions 
• Connect with Dell Technologies via Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and DECN
• Airship

About Dell Technologies

Dell Technologies (NYSE: DELL) is a unique family of businesses that helps organizations and individuals build their digital future and transform how they work and live. The company provides customers with the industry's broadest and most innovative technology and services portfolio spanning from edge to core to cloud. The Dell Technologies family includes Dell, Dell EMC, Pivotal, RSA, Secureworks, Virtustream and VMware.

*About AT&T Communications
We help family, friends and neighbors connect in meaningful ways every day. From the first phone call 140+ years ago to mobile video streaming, we innovate to improve lives. We have the nation's fastest wireless network.** And according to America's biggest test, we have the nation's best wireless network.*** We're building FirstNet just for first responders and creating next-generation mobile 5G. With DIRECTV, DIRECTV NOW and WatchTV, we deliver entertainment people love to talk about. Our smart, highly secure solutions serve nearly 3 million global businesses – nearly all of the Fortune 1000. And worldwide, our spirit of service drives employees to give back to their communities.

AT&T Communications is part of AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T). Learn more at att.com/CommunicationsNews.

AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc. Additional information about AT&T products and services is available at about.att.com. Follow our news on Twitter at @ATT, on Facebook at facebook.com/att and on YouTube at youtube.com/att.

© 2019 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T, the Globe logo and other marks are trademarks and service marks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies. All other marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

**Based on analysis by Ookla® of Speedtest Intelligence® data average download speeds for Q2 2019.
***GWS OneScore, September 2018.

Copyright © 2019 Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. All Rights Reserved. Dell, EMC and other trademarks are trademarks of Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. Other trademarks may be trademarks of their respective owners. 

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SOURCE Dell Technologies