HPE and Oracle expand networking partnership for gigawatt-scale AI data center buildout

HPE and Oracle expand AI data center networking deal

The deal covers HPE Juniper PTX and MX routing platforms and QFX and EX switching platforms, along with multi-year networking support services and financing capabilities, the company said. As part of the agreement, HPE issued Oracle warrants to purchase shares of HPE common stock. HPE Juniper networking equipment already supports elements of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure's data center and edge networks. The expanded agreement targets Oracle's growing AI supercluster buildout, where large GPU clusters place heavy demands on bandwidth, latency, congestion management, and fault recovery, HPE said. The latest QFX switches will provide high-density connectivity and advanced congestion management for large AI backend networks using RoCEv2, or RDMA over Converged Ethernet version 2.

HPE Inks Blockbuster Juniper Networking Deal With Oracle

'Oracle will deploy HPE-Juniper networking routers and switches across one of their largest AI cloud infrastructure buildouts,' says HPE CEO Antonio Neri. HPE has expanded a networking deal with Oracle that is expected to result in HPE Juniper multi-gigawatt networking infrastructure being deployed across Oracle's AI data centers. HPE is calling the multi-year global deployment one of the industry's largest AI infrastructure buildouts. "Oracle will deploy HPE-Juniper networking routers and switches across one of their largest AI cloud infrastructure buildouts," said HPE CEO Antonio Neri announcing the deal during HPE's third quarter earnings conference call. "HPE is uniquely positioned to support Oracle with a network for AI portfolio which is one of the most comprehensive in the industry." CRN reached out to Oracle for comment but did not hear back at press time. In a press release, HPE Executive Vice President of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Mahesh Thiagarajan said: "HPE Juniper Networking has been an important part of our cloud architecture and now plays a key role in our AI clusters, regional data centers, and edge networks with the scale, performance, and reliability our customers expect." Neri said the gigawatt network infrastructure deal with Oracle will use HPE's QFX data center switching, which is based on Broadcom's highly regarded Tomahawk silicon, as part of a scale-out architecture. "The scale across architecture for the Oracle buildout will include HPE's PTX routing platform which is based on HPE's own silicon," said Neri. "That is a major differentiation for scalability which is our (Juniper) Express 5 (ASIC) which we designed a couple of years ago." That Express 5 silicon is "unique," said Neri. "It's very hard to do what our silicon does," he said. "There are only two or three players that have done this at massive scale. It is a source of differentiation." Neri said he expects the Oracle deal to act as a high-profile network infrastructure buildout that could propel more networking AI deals for HPE. "This proves that we have a scalable set of products that deliver the performance with the AI capabilities that everybody is now looking for with self-driving (network) operations," he said. "We have embedded that across the entire portfolio not just in the campus and branch. If you look at our routers it is amazing what they can do in optimizing that bandwidth using that AI." HPE notably was the first in time to market with 1.6 terabit routing capabilities with air-cooled technology and direct liquid cooling, said Neri. "Time to market here is a very important aspect of competing and winning in the market," he said. HPE is betting the Oracle deal drives a "significant amount of interest" in HPE's networking infrastructure portfolio, said Neri.

HPE and Oracle deepen networking collaboration to accelerate gigawatt-scale AI infrastructure

Oracle plans multi-year, global deployment of HPE Juniper Networking across one of the industry's largest AI infrastructure buildouts HPE today announced an expanded collaboration with Oracle to help scale Oracle's global AI infrastructure by deploying HPE Juniper Networking across Oracle's AI data centers. The expanded collaboration builds on more than a decade of engineering work between Oracle and Juniper Networks and includes networking support services and financing capabilities. Today, HPE Juniper Networking routing and switching platforms support key elements of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure's (OCI) data center and edge networks, providing the scale, performance, and availability needed for Oracle's global cloud operations. That foundation is becoming increasingly important as OCI expands its AI superclusters. Large GPU clusters place significant demands on bandwidth, latency, congestion management, and fault recovery, while Oracle's regional and edge networks must scale to connect clusters with services, customers, and external networks worldwide. "Oracle is building AI infrastructure at extraordinary scale, and HPE is uniquely positioned to support OCI with one of the industry's most comprehensive networking portfolios for AI data centers," said Rami Rahim, executive vice president, president and general manager, Networking, HPE. "Together, we are advancing a high-performance networking architecture that helps Oracle address the traffic management, power, space, and operational requirements of increasingly large AI environments." The expanded collaboration provides for the potential multi-year deployment of HPE Juniper Networking PTX and MX routing platforms and QFX and EX switching platforms across Oracle data centers globally, along with multi-year networking support services. Across OCI today, the MX and PTX routers support portions of the edge network, while QFX switches power multiple layers of the regional data center fabric. The latest QFX switches will provide the high-density connectivity, dynamic load balancing, and advanced congestion management required for large RoCEv2 (RDMA over Converged Ethernet version 2) AI backend networks. A common HPE Juniper Networking foundation across these domains helps simplify engineering and operations while enabling each environment to be optimized for its distinct requirements. "Building AI infrastructure at Oracle's scale requires an integrated ecosystem where every layer of the stack works together," said Mahesh Thiagarajan, executive vice president, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. "HPE Juniper Networking has been an important part of our cloud architecture and now plays a key role in our AI clusters, regional data centers, and edge networks with the scale, performance, and reliability our customers expect." To help OCI sustain high performance and resiliency as its AI infrastructure scales, Oracle and HPE are also collaborating on intelligent telemetry that delivers deeper visibility into device and fabric behavior. Earlier detection of queue buildup, packet loss, traffic imbalances, and component degradation can help OCI resolve issues faster and minimize their impact on GPU utilization and network availability. "Every microsecond matters to AI models and agents," said Praveen Jain, senior vice president and general manager, data center and AI networking, HPE. "Through high-performance networking and our work with Oracle on deeper fabric visibility, we are helping OCI detect bottlenecks faster, maintain network availability, and improve the efficiency of AI infrastructure." As part of the agreement, HPE has issued Oracle warrants to purchase shares of HPE common stock.

HPE Juniper Networking Deployed in Oracle's AI Data Centers

This strengthened collaboration builds on more than 10 years of joint engineering work by Oracle and Juniper Networks (a company acquired by HPE last year) and also includes network support services and financing capabilities. 'Together, we are advancing a high-performance network architecture that helps Oracle meet the traffic management, power consumption, space and operational requirements tied to ever-larger AI environments,' said Rami Rahim, executive vice president, president and general manager, Networking at HPE. This strengthened collaboration calls for the multi-year deployment of HPE Juniper Networking PTX and MX routing platforms as well as QFX and EX switching platforms in Oracle data centers worldwide. The latest QFX switches will provide the high-density connectivity, dynamic load balancing and advanced congestion management required for large-scale AI backbones based on RoCEv2 (RDMA over Converged Ethernet version 2). To help OCI maintain a high level of performance and resilience as its AI infrastructure grows, Oracle and HPE are also collaborating on intelligent telemetry that provides more granular visibility into the behavior of equipment and the network fabric. Earlier detection of queue build-up, packet loss, traffic imbalances and component degradation can help OCI resolve incidents faster and limit their impact on GPU utilization and network availability.