Nokia’s Role in NVIDIA DSX Air: Advancing Open, AI‑ready Networking for the Cloud Era

The acceleration of AI‑driven cloud architectures is fundamentally reshaping the way data centers are designed, validated, and optimized. As workloads become more distributed, data‑hungry, and latency‑sensitive, the networking layer has never been more critical. NVIDIA DSX Air enters this landscape as a powerful cloud‑hosted simulation platform that lets teams build digital twins of full‑scale data center environments—mirroring real‑world conditions for validation and testing. Within this evolving ecosystem, Nokia is honored to have its network operating system (NOS) SR Linux represented as part of the networking layer of NVIDIA DSX Air. This inclusion reflects a shared commitment to open ecosystems, high‑performance networking, and cloud‑aligned architectural principles that support the rapid rise of AI infrastructures.

A digital twin with a broad aperture

As AI infrastructure grows in scale and complexity, cloud builders increasingly need to model and validate not just the network, but their entire data center footprint before hardware ever hits the floor. Standing up an AI‑ready environment requires seamless coordination across compute—GPUs and CPUs powering both front‑end and back‑end fabrics—high‑performance storage, power and cooling systems, cabling and physical plant, environmental monitoring, and dozens of interdependent operational domains. The ability to simulate and integrate insights from all these layers is critical for reducing risk, improving visibility, and ensuring predictable performance as AI clusters expand. NVIDIA DSX Air is designed precisely for this broader aperture: a platform that unifies telemetry and behavioral insight from diverse, domain‑optimized systems into one cohesive digital simulation. NVIDIA DSX Air behaves like a production‑grade environment, allowing developers to validate configurations, test automation, and simulate complex architectures across multiple network operating systems. [docs.nvidia.com]

As part of this ecosystem, Nokia is proud to ensure that operational data, automation workflows, and tooling from our networking portfolio integrate cleanly into DSX Air—helping AI cloud builders gain the clarity and confidence needed to deploy and run next‑generation AI data centers at scale.

A platform built for today’s AI‑first cloud

The modern AI cloud is pushing traditional network engineering to its limits. The scale and operational intensity of AI workloads demand deterministic performance, impeccable automation, and full-stack visibility. NVIDIA DSX Air provides a safe, cloud‑hosted environment where operators, developers, and architects can model production environments and run full‑scale simulations of data center networks. [docs.nvidia.com]

With DSX Air:

• Teams can validate new designs before hardware deployment.
• Multi‑OS topologies can be tested end‑to‑end with real‑world behavior.
• Configuration changes and automation pipelines can be stress‑tested without impacting production.

This kind of capability becomes essential as enterprises and cloud providers continue evolving their networks for AI‑native operations, autonomous networking, and hybrid cloud environments.

Nokia SR Linux: designed for openness and vertical integration

At the center of Nokia’s contribution to the NVIDIA DSX Air ecosystem is SR Linux, Nokia’s open, model‑driven NOS built specifically for data center networks. SR Linux embodies a philosophy of openness—an approach increasingly critical in AI‑driven architectures where networks must integrate seamlessly across multiple layers of compute, storage, acceleration, and orchestration.

SR Linux is:

• Model‑driven, making every configuration and state parameter accessible through open APIs.
• Fully programmable, enabling operators to automate with precision at scale.
• Vertically integrated, offering alignment from silicon to software without sacrificing interoperability.

This open design aligns naturally with what NVIDIA DSX Air enables—multi‑vendor, multi‑layer simulations that mirror the increasingly diverse environments of AI‑heavy data centers. DSX Air's ability to run full‑scale network architectures using different operating systems makes it an ideal environment for exploring SR Linux capabilities and validating automation workflows that rely on openness. [docs.nvidia.com]

Together, these qualities ensure that Nokia’s NOS provides a frictionless experience for developers and network engineers who rely on DSX Air to model next‑generation AI data center networks.

Advancing AI‑native networking through joint innovation

Beyond DSX Air, NVIDIA and Nokia have deepened their collaboration in recent years as the industry moves toward AI‑native mobile and cloud networks. Strategic partnerships have been announced to develop commercial‑grade AI‑RAN platforms and accelerate the shift from 5G‑Advanced to 6G using software‑defined, accelerated computing architectures. [nvidianews...nvidia.com], [nokia.com]

This broader context matters for the AI cloud industry because:

• The lines between data center, edge, and RAN continue to blur.
• AI‑native infrastructure requires tight end‑to‑end integration.
• Open networking is essential to support the rapidly expanding AI ecosystem.

These initiatives illustrate Nokia's strategic position as a key contributor to the technologies underpinning AI‑native cloud and mobile networks—making Nokia’s role in NVIDIA DSX Air a natural extension of its broader collaboration efforts.

Unlocking value for AI cloud architects and operators

For organizations designing AI‑optimized data centers, the Nokia-NVIDIA DSX Air integration provides several major advantages:

1. Robust validation in a safe environment

DSX Air allows teams to validate full‑scale topologies, configuration changes, and automation pipelines before deploying them into live networks—an essential step as AI workloads become increasingly dynamic and complex. [docs.nvidia.com]

2. Open, programmable networking with SR Linux

SR Linux brings openness, API‑driven control, and model‑driven design to DSX Air simulations. This ensures alignment with modern cloud‑native operational models and reduces integration friction.

3. Faster innovation cycles

Because simulations in DSX Air behave like real‑world deployments, engineering teams can innovate more rapidly—testing at cloud scale without incurring hardware costs or operational risk.

4. Future‑ready architecture for AI‑heavy workloads

As Nokia and NVIDIA collaborate on next‑generation AI‑native platforms—including AI‑RAN technologies and 6G‑ready computing—it becomes clear that DSX Air is poised to play a central role in validating the networking fabrics that will support AI‑powered applications at massive scale. [nvidianews...nvidia.com]

Looking ahead: building the foundation for AI‑optimized clouds

AI workloads are growing exponentially, driving demand for low‑latency fabrics, real‑time telemetry, and highly automated operational models. Being part of NVIDIA DSX Air is a significant milestone for Nokia—reflecting both technical alignment and a shared vision for open, AI‑optimized infrastructure.

With SR Linux in the NVIDIA DSX Air ecosystem, developers and operators can explore, validate, and refine the networks that will underpin tomorrow’s AI platforms. This strengthens the value of DSX Air as a cloud‑scale digital twin environment and highlights Nokia’s commitment to openness, programmability, and vertical integration.

As the AI era accelerates, Nokia looks forward to continuing its collaboration with NVIDIA and the broader cloud community—working together to build networks that are ready to support the next generation of intelligent applications and data‑driven innovation.