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3 Jun 2026Form Number
LP2434PDF size
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Abstract
Lenovo offers the Nokia 7215 IXS and 7220 IXR data center networking switches for use in server solutions. The Nokia 7215 IXS (Interconnect Switch) and 7220 IXR (Interconnect Router) families are purpose-built data center and cloud networking platforms designed to deliver high-density, low-latency connectivity for modern leaf-spine architectures. This document introduces the switches and provides the Lenovo ordering information. It is intended for technical specialists, sales specialists, sales engineers, IT architects, and other IT professionals who want to learn more about the Nokia Ethernet Switches and consider their use in IT solutions.
Introduction
The Nokia 7215 IXS (Interconnect Switch) and 7220 IXR (Interconnect Router) families are purpose-built data center and cloud networking platforms designed to deliver high-density, low-latency connectivity for modern leaf-spine architectures. Based on Nokia’s Service Router Linux (SR Linux) network operating system, these platforms provide a highly programmable, model-driven approach to network operations.
- The 7215 IXS targets cost-efficient top-of-rack and edge interconnect use cases, offering flexible port configurations and compact form factors, while maintaining full support for BGP-based control planes and streaming telemetry for real-time observability.
- The 7220 IXR series extends these capabilities into high-performance spine and aggregation roles, supporting higher port densities, 100/400GbE interfaces, and deep buffering for large-scale east-west traffic patterns typical of hyperscale and enterprise data centers.
Both platforms emphasize automation and disaggregation principles, exposing open APIs (gNMI, gRPC) and native support for infrastructure-as-code workflows to enable rapid provisioning and lifecycle management.
Combined with SR Linux’s containerized architecture, the 7215 IXS and 7220 IXR switches provide a scalable, resilient, and cloud-native networking foundation optimized for microservices, AI/ML workloads, and multi-tenant environments.
Figure 1. Nokia 7220 IXR-D5 Ethernet Switch with 32x 400GbE ports
Did you know?
The Nokia 7215 IXS and 7220 IXR platforms work together to separate management and data-plane traffic, something that is increasingly critical in AI and cloud data centers. The 7215 IXS acts as a dedicated out‑of‑band management switch, ensuring reliable access to servers and networking infrastructure even during production network issues, while the 7220 IXR switches deliver high‑performance leaf and spine connectivity with scalable EVPN‑VXLAN support for modern workloads.
Ordering information
The following table lists the Nokia Ethernet switches orderable from Lenovo.
Planned orderability: Some switches are planned to be orderable in July 2026, as indicated in the table.
* PSE = Port Side Exhaust; oPSE = Opposite Port Side Exhaust
† Planned to be orderable in July 2026
Lenovo EveryScale
Lenovo EveryScale is a framework for designing, manufacturing, integrating, and delivering data center solutions, with a focus on High Performance Computing (HPC), Technical Computing, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) environments.
With EveryScale, Lenovo pre-tests and validates a wide selection of Lenovo and third-party components, including Nokia Ethernet switches, to create a "Best Recipe" of components and firmware levels that work seamlessly together as a solution. From this testing, customers can be confident that these best-practice solutions run optimally for their workloads and are tailored to their specific needs.
Lenovo EveryScale hardware is pre-integrated, pre-cabled, and pre-loaded, optionally with an OS image, and is tested at the rack level during manufacturing. This process ensures reliable delivery and minimizes installation time in the customer data center.
With EveryScale, customers can focus their efforts on maximizing business value instead of consuming valuable resources to design, optimize, install, and support the infrastructure required to meet business demands.
Learn more by reading the Lenovo EveryScale product guide.
Model summary
The Nokia switches offered by Lenovo are as follows:
- Nokia 7215 IXS-A1 - 1Gb Ethernet
- Nokia 7220 IXR-D2L - 25Gb Ethernet
- Nokia 7220 IXR-D3L - 100Gb Ethernet
- Nokia 7220 IXR-D4 - 100/400Gb Ethernet
- Nokia 7220 IXR-D5 - 400Gb Ethernet
Nokia 7215 IXS-A1 - 1Gb Ethernet
The Nokia 7215 IXS-A1 is a compact, high-efficiency interconnect system purpose-built to provide reliable out‑of‑band (OOB) management for modern data center fabrics. Positioned as a top‑of‑rack management switch, it delivers secure and isolated connectivity for servers, leaf, and spine nodes, ensuring operational continuity even when the production network is unavailable. With a dense mix of 1GbE access ports and 10GbE uplinks, combined with support for SR Linux, the platform enables model‑driven automation, deep telemetry, and simplified lifecycle management. Available in both PSE and oPSE airflow variants, it integrates seamlessly into hot‑aisle/cold‑aisle data center designs.
Figure 2. Nokia 7215 IXS-A1 - front view
Figure 3. Nokia 7215 IXS-A1 - rear view
For more information, see the Nokia 7215 IXS-A1 data sheet.
Nokia 7220 IXR-D2L - 25Gb Ethernet
The Nokia 7220 IXR-D2L is a high‑performance leaf switch designed to deliver scalable server connectivity in cloud, enterprise, and AI-driven data center environments. Optimized for top‑of‑rack deployments, it provides high-density 25GbE access ports complemented by 100GbE uplinks, enabling efficient east‑west traffic handling in leaf‑spine architectures. The platform supports flexible port breakout options and advanced overlay networking capabilities such as EVPN-VXLAN, allowing for scalable multi-tenant designs. Built on SR Linux, the IXR-D2L enables programmability, automation, and rich telemetry while maintaining operational simplicity.
Figure 4. Nokia 7220 IXR-D2L - front view
Figure 5. Nokia 7220 IXR-D2L with back-to-front (PSE) airflow - rear view
For more information, see the Nokia 7220 IXR-D series data sheet for SR Linux.
Nokia 7220 IXR-D3L - 100Gb Ethernet
The Nokia 7220 IXR-D3L is engineered for high-density 100GbE connectivity, making it ideal for leaf and spine roles in high-bandwidth data center fabrics. By focusing on 100GbE port density, it enables efficient aggregation of leaf switches or direct attachment of high-performance compute and storage resources. The platform supports modern overlay networking with EVPN-VXLAN and offers a programmable, model-driven architecture through SR Linux, allowing operators to automate operations and scale networks with confidence. Its combination of performance, flexibility, and compact form factor makes it well-suited for evolving data center workloads.
Figure 6. Nokia 7220 IXR-D3L - front view
Figure 7. Nokia 7220 IXR-D3L with back-to-front (PSE) airflow - rear view
For more information, see the Nokia 7220 IXR-D series data sheet for SR Linux.
Nokia 7220 IXR-D4 - 100/400Gb Ethernet
The Nokia 7220 IXR-D4 provides a transition to next-generation data center fabrics by combining 100GbE connectivity with high-speed 400GbE uplinks in a compact 1U platform. Designed for leaf and aggregation tiers, it enables organizations to incrementally adopt higher bandwidth networking without requiring a full infrastructure refresh. The IXR-D4 supports flexible interface configurations and breakout options, allowing it to interoperate with existing 100GbE environments while preparing for 400GbE scalability. Integrated with SR Linux, it offers advanced automation, telemetry, and reliability for demanding cloud and AI workloads.
Figure 8. Nokia 7220 IXR-D4 front view
Figure 9. Nokia 7220 IXR-D4 with front-to-back (oPSE) airflow - rear view
Figure 10. Nokia 7220 IXR-D4 with back-to-front (PSE) airflow - rear view
For more information, see the Nokia 7220 IXR-D series data sheet for SR Linux.
Nokia 7220 IXR-D5 - 400Gb Ethernet
The Nokia 7220 IXR-D5 is a high-capacity, 400GbE-focused platform built for the most demanding data center environments, including AI training clusters and large-scale cloud fabrics. With dense 400GbE connectivity in a fixed configuration, it is optimized for spine or high-performance leaf deployments where maximum bandwidth and low latency are required. The platform enables efficient handling of east‑west traffic at scale and supports advanced overlay networking and automation through SR Linux. Its high throughput and scalable architecture make it a key building block for next-generation, high-performance data center networks.
Figure 11. Nokia 7220 IXR-D5 front view
Figure 12. Nokia 7220 IXR-D5 with front-to-back (oPSE) airflow - rear view
Figure 13. Nokia 7220 IXR-D5 with back-to-front (PSE) airflow - rear view
For more information, see the Nokia 7220 IXR-D series data sheet for SR Linux.
Specifications
The following table shows the specifications of each switch. There are two variants for each switch:
- PSE (Port Side Exhaust): Airflow is Back-to-front - Air enters from power side and exits at port side
- oPSE (Opposite / reversed airflow): Airflow is Front-to-back - Air enters from port side and exits at power side
* Selected ports support the listed native speeds and breakout options. Refer to the following Nokia documentation resources for detailed port-to-speed/ breakout mappings:
For additional technical information about the switches, including software features, technical specifications, and standards compliance, see the Nokia datasheets:
- Nokia 7215 IXS-A1 data sheet
https://www.nokia.com/asset/214158/ - Nokia 7220 IXR-D series data sheet for SR Linux
https://www.nokia.com/asset/207599/
SONiC support: The SONiC network OS is not supported.
Transceivers
The following table lists the supported transceivers.
Networking cables
The following table lists the supported cables.
In this section:
Optical cables
Copper cables
RJ45 cables
Rack mount kit
The following table lists the optional rack mount kit for the Nokia switches.
7215 IXS-A1 rail kit: The Nokia 7215 IXS-A1 does not support the rack mount kit listed in the table below. The rail kit for the A1 switch is included with the switch.
Power cables
The following table lists the power cables that can be ordered with the Nokia switches.
Tip: The Nokia 7220 IXR-D4 has IEC 320-C16 power sockets and requires power cables with a C15 plug.
Operating environment
The Nokia switches have the following operating characteristics:
- Normal operating temperature range (sustained): 0°C to +40°C (32°F to +104°F)
- Shipping and storage temperature range: -20°C to +70°C (-4°F to +158°F)
- Normal humidity: 5% to 95%, non-condensing
Note: The Nokia switches do not include an air baffle. Take the above requirements into consideration when configuring PSE-airflow models of the switches.
Related publications and links
For more information, see these resources:
- Lenovo EveryScale product guide
https://lenovopress.lenovo.com/lp0900-lenovo-everyscale-lesi - Nokia Data Center Network Switches
https://www.nokia.com/data-center-networks/switches/ - Nokia 7215 IXS-A1 data sheet
https://www.nokia.com/asset/214158/ - Nokia 7220 IXR-D series data sheet for SR Linux
https://www.nokia.com/asset/207599/ - Nokia product documentation (login required)
https://documentation.nokia.com/pybin/ndc_product.py?prod=ip
Trademarks
Lenovo and the Lenovo logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Lenovo in the United States, other countries, or both. A current list of Lenovo trademarks is available on the Web at https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/legal/copytrade/.
The following terms are trademarks of Lenovo in the United States, other countries, or both:
Lenovo®
ThinkAgile®
ThinkSystem®
The following terms are trademarks of other companies:
Linux® is the trademark of Linus Torvalds in the U.S. and other countries.
Other company, product, or service names may be trademarks or service marks of others.
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