Kontron partners with Canonical to enable universal OpenStack-based virtualized services

●    Kontron first to market a hardware infrastructure platform fully integrated, supported and managed in line with OpenStack life cycle releases

●    Truly open source and production-ready for cloud provisioning and rapid deployments of virtualized network functions (VNFs)

●    DPDK line rate performance with optional Juju charm, Virtual Accelerator by 6WIND

Augsburg, Germany, February 22, 2017 – Kontron, a global provider of cloud and carrier-class integrated infrastructure platforms, announced today the launch of a commercially available SYMKLOUD OpenStack Platform. In collaboration with Canonical, Kontron exercised a complete validation of Ubuntu OpenStack on SYMKLOUD hardware, and will fully support and manage the platform’s life cycle in alignment with each new open source software release, starting with Mitaka.

This represents a major commitment by Kontron to radically simplify the evaluating, buying and deploying of production-grade OpenStack platforms. For communication service providers, cloud and hosting providers, and enterprises who build private clouds, this fulfills many market expectations of an integrated OpenStack platform that is — deployable in hours not days, priced at a reasonable entry point, and is maintained as a truly open source platform without vendor lock-in.

The hardware-software integration story

The entire solution is pre-validated and Canonical-approved using the SYMKLOUD MS29xx Series of converged infrastructure platforms. This high-density and modular platform reduces the typical space required to provision OpenStack controllers — from a total of 9U, down to a single 2U footprint that still incorporates redundant configurations of Ubuntu plus selected Canonical tools such as Juju, MAAS, and Landscape.

The quickest path to NFVi for CSPs to rapidly deploy ‘Open Services’

Telco service providers who seek the freedom to run single or multiple concurrent 3^rd party VNFs on the same platform can accelerate their trials and service roll-outs using the SYMKLOUD OpenStack platform deployed across carrier clouds and network functions virtualization (NFV) infrastructure.

Canonical’s tools, including Juju Charms, quickly configure and combine all the elements of a complex SDN or NFV infrastructure. This includes ensuring the highest virtual machine performance using DPDK, which Kontron has accomplished by validating the 6WIND Virtual Accelerator, deployed through Juju, with the SYMKLOUD OpenStack Platform. The Virtual Accelerator features low latency and high networking throughput to offload virtual switching from OpenStack Neutron and to relieve the bottleneck burden at the hypervisor layer.

Overall, operators can rapidly deploy a private OpenStack environment and add compute and storage resources as required. Kontron complements the SYMKLOUD OpenStack Infrastructure Platform with its ‘From-Top-to-Bottom’ portfolio of high performance, price-sensitive rack level products. This includes 1U ToR 100G and 25G spine-leaf switches, 2U servers for HDD and SSD storage arrays, and appliances, all derived from a strategic alliance with its partner Ennoconn (Foxconn).

“Canonical and 6WIND are invaluable partners to Kontron to help kick-start this new venture,” said Benoit Robert, head of strategy and marketing, Kontron, Communications Business. “More than half of the world’s OpenStack clouds run on Ubuntu, a truly rock-solid open source operating system. We’re excited to see the results of a perfectly integrated hardware and software solution that will be the bedrock for many future OpenStack environments to come.”

“Kontron has taken platform integration to a new level, making ready-to-deploy OpenStack incredibly accessible for companies deploying OpenStack and NFV,” said John Zannos, Vice President of Cloud Platform, Canonical. “Building clouds on the SYMKLOUD OpenStack platform with Ubuntu OpenStack and Juju eliminates complexity and is a compelling option for numerous market segments including video and CDN, finance, and telco operators who are ready to deploy services on carrier clouds via NFV and SDN.”

“The SYMKLOUD hardware platform is designed with a high density of VMs in such a small formfactor, making the 6WIND Virtual Accelerator Charm a key component to accelerated packet processing for virtual networking,” said Eric Carmès, CEO and Founder, 6WIND. “Already pre-validated and integrated, the Kontron solution will be instrumental to help CSPs make the transition more readily from legacy- to virtual-built services.”

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MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS

Kontron will show live SYMKLOUD OpenStack use cases during MWC 2017, February 27 – March 2, 2017| Barcelona, Spain

Booth 5H41 | Hall 5 | Centre Aisle

Appointments can be made here:  www.kontron.com/mwc2017

Availability:

Kontron SYMKLOUD OpenStack Infrastructure Platform will be available mid-Q2; 17.

For more SYMKLOUD use cases, please visit: www.symkloud.com

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About Kontron:

Kontron, a global leader in embedded computing technology and a pioneer in secure IoT platform solutions, provides a combined portfolio of hardware, middleware and services. With its leading-edge standard products and solution ready platforms, Kontron enables new technologies and applications across multiple industries. As a result, customers benefit from accelerated time-to-market, reduced total cost of ownership, product longevity and the best overall application with the highest reliability in embedded technology. Kontron is a listed company. Its shares are traded in the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and on other exchanges under the symbol “KBC”. For more information, please visit: www.kontron.com

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About Kontron Communications:

Kontron designs hardware for the software defined world. Service providers and enterprise clients around the globe collaborate with Kontron and its ISV and channel partners to deploy new services with greater speed, confidence and operational efficiency. Our portfolio is a best-of-breed of OEM hardware and SYMKLOUD Open Infrastructure Platforms dedicated to the deployment of virtual services using software defined networks (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV). For more information, please visit www.symkloud.com or www.kontron.com/communications.

For further information please contact:

Alexandra Habekost
Head of Investor Relations & Corporate Communications
Kontron AG
Tel: +49 (0) 821 4086-114
alexandra.habekost@kontron.com

Kontron is a trademark or registered trademark of Kontron AG.