Nokia is providing data center switches to Microsoft’s tier-two network architecture, building on past work between the two companies tied to the Microsoft-developed Software for Open Networking in the Cloud (SONiC) open source platform.

The deal will see Nokia provide its 7250 IXR chassis-based interconnect routers to support Microsoft’s “high-density 400GE applications.” It will also supply other hardware to support the hyperscaler’s network applications.

That router architecture was released in mid-2020, and spans top-of-rack switches, spine switches, super-spine switches, and modular chassis spine switches. It can support port speeds up to 400-gigabit Ethernet, with a claimed path to 800GE.

The agreement comes nearly two years after Nokia first dipped its Nordic toe into the SONiC ecosystem. That initial plunge included a chassis-based development and investments in the data center networking space.

Microsoft initially developed the Linux-based SONiC networking operating system in 2015. The platform allowed the cloud giant to share the same software stack across multiple switch vendors, the ability to scale down the software while developing features that are required for data center and networking needs, and debug, fix, and test software bugs at a faster rate.

Microsoft donated the platform into the Open Compute Project (OCP) in 2016.

Nokia is also working with Microsoft on developing 4G LTE and 5G private wireless use cases targeting the enterprise space. That work combines Nokia’s virtualized radio access network (vRAN) and multi-access edge cloud (MEC) with the Azure Private Edge Zone platform and developer ecosystem.

The new switch deal is a big win for Nokia, which is a smaller player in a data center switch market dominated by Arista. Nokia is a bigger player in the service provider vertical, where it sits behind market heavyweights Cisco and Huawei, according to a recent Dell’Oro report.