Unleashing the power of Edge cloud, delivered as a service: Revolutionizing the Edge

[Cloud_Experts]

The popularity of edge computing is soaring, but many edges are complex, monolithic structures based on inflexible appliances. The HPE GreenLake edge-to-cloud platform can help you simplify and transform your edge.

By Faisal Hanif, Product Management, HPE GreenLake Cloud Services

Edge computing brings computation and data storage closer to devices generating the data. The targeted market segment for edge computing includes verticals such as telecom, manufacturing, healthcare, retail and transportation. Important trends in the edge computing market include the increasing adoption of IoT devices, and the need for real-time data processing and analysis. Edge computing is also increasingly being integrated with the cloud and data centers to deliver a seamless and scalable solution that leverages the strength of both technologies. Edge computing is being adopted for latency-sensitive applications running at the edge. In edge computing, low latency is crucial for real-time applications, data-processing and decision-making, as well as improving customer experience. 

Two overarching forces are driving this growth — new use cases to support digital-first business and operations that require IT service in new locations; and modernization of existing edge resources to tackle increasingly performance-intensive workloads.

According to Gartner, 75% of data will be processed outside traditional centralized data centers or cloud by 2025 (see this Gartner article: What Edge Computing Means for Infrastructure and Operations Leaders).

 Revolutionizing the Edge: Providing an enhanced Edge cloud experience

As edge computing continues to become popular, organizations are exploring ways to run their workloads at the edge more efficiently. The emerging popular approaches for running workloads at the edge are virtual machines (VMs) and containers. Virtual machines can provide a high level of isolation and can run a wide variety of operating systems, making them suitable for running legacy applications. VMs can be resource-intensive and may not be suitable for running lightweight applications. The other option is running edge environments on containers, which are lightweight and offer fast startup times, thus making them ideal for running microservices and other modern applications.

If you’re considering running containers at the edge, there are two possible options: running them on bare metal, or on VMs. Since there is no need to run a separate hypervisor layer, running containers on bare metal allows faster performance and lower resource utilization. However, this approach may be less flexible in terms of workload management and scaling. On the other hand, running containers on VMs offers greater flexibility in terms of workload management and scaling, as well as the ability to isolate workloads for security and resource management.

At present, edge deployments are characterized by their complexity, monolithic structure and reactive implementation using inflexible appliances. Typically, edge deployments have been constructed using a combination of pre-bought hardware and software. However, this approach offers limited flexibility and automation, and since these deployments are not metered, they are unable to provide insights into cost or usage and lack the capability for dynamic capacity planning. HPE GreenLake edge-to-cloud platform delivers the pay-per-use capabilities and advanced metering technologies that companies need to maximize the value of the Edge.

The public cloud has established user expectations for a simple and efficient experience, with benchmarks for time to value. Businesses now demand the same level of experience for their private cloud, whether it is hosted in a data center, colocation, or edge environment. (Read about HPE GreenLake for Private Cloud Enterprise and how it delivers a public cloud experience for your private cloud.) In the case of the Edge cloud, there is an opportunity to enhance customer experience with a managed cloud service that is specifically optimized and tailored to meet the unique requirements of edge computing. This modular and scalable solution is designed to handle both VM and container-based workloads, while also providing full observability and control. Furthermore, it offers greater transparency and predictability for usage, capacity, and show-back, providing businesses with a better understanding of costs associated with their edge deployments.

The benefits of Edge cloud offered as a service include:

• The provider maintains and manages the Edge infrastructure, allowing organizations to focus on innovation and development without worrying about the underlying hardware and software.
• Enterprises can easily scale their applications and services to meet fluctuating demands. This allows them to expand their infrastructure without the need for massive upfront investments in hardware and software.
• It enables businesses to focus on application development and management of container and virtualization platforms at edge sites.
• With managed experience along with maintenance of Edge infrastructure, enterprises can significantly reduce their capital and operational expenses. This allows them to invest in other areas of their business.

In conclusion, Edge cloud offered as a service can be a game-changer for enterprises looking to leverage edge computing. With a managed cloud solution that is optimized and tailored to meet the unique requirements of edge environments, enterprises can realize the full potential of this technology without the hassle of managing complex infrastructure. With Edge cloud as a service, businesses can achieve improved performance, reduced latency, and greater agility, all while maintaining the security and control they need. As edge computing continues to gain momentum, Edge cloud offered as a service is poised to become essential for enterprises looking to stay ahead of the curve and remain competitive in today's rapidly evolving digital transformation.

Learn more about HPE GreenLake cloud services and how we help you deliver business outcomes faster.

As a member of HPE GreenLake Cloud Services Product Management, Faisal Hanif leads the development and execution of end-to-end strategies for building workload-optimized cloud services for VM- and container-based as-a-service offerings. He brings a strong focus on customer experience, offer evolution, and go-to-market (GTM) strategies, ensuring that the cloud solutions portfolio is optimized for success. As a thought leader in the field of cloud services and edge computing, he understands the importance of innovation and agility in today’s rapidly-evolving market. Contact Faisal on Twitter: @ffhanif

Cloud Services Experts
Hewlett Packard Enterprise

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