Edge Computing Simplified: Maximizing Efficiency with Purpose-Built Edge Platforms

The 5 Key Elements of a Successful Edge Computing Deployment

Success with edge computing is based on knowledge. Organizations on this path should be aware of the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of edge computing implementations that need to be considered.

Edge computing deployments have unique constraints significantly different from those of typical data center deployments. By definition, edge deployments are away from normal support services, far from the sanitized data center, and deeply enmeshed in the organization's real work. They must deliver high value without disrupting other business activities.

Organizations seeking edge deployments should pause to evaluate various factors essential for edge computing and identify a solution that prioritizes the most critical aspects. These factors include a minimal physical footprint requiring little cooling and power, an affordable footprint that’s easy to expand and maintain, straightforward additions of resource nodes (scaling out) and hardware replacements, a mix of hardware and software that tolerates failures, and a configuration that can be consistently and easily deployed in various locations.

Choosing the Right Edge Device for Your Needs

When it comes to edge computing, not all equipment is created equal. Many products marketed as "edge" equipment are not truly designed for edge environments. Instead, they are often standard data center components that have been slightly adapted—or simply rebranded—for edge use. This approach can lead to significant challenges when deploying edge computing solutions, as equipment intended for controlled data center conditions may struggle in the more demanding environments typical of edge locations.

The Pitfalls of Repurposing Data Center Equipment for Edge Deployments

One of the most common pitfalls in edge computing implementations is using equipment that was never intended for edge scenarios. Standard data center equipment is built to operate in environments with consistent cooling, stable power, and secure infrastructure. However, when this equipment is installed at the edge—whether in a warehouse, a retail space, or on a factory floor—it may encounter less-than-ideal conditions. Poor ventilation, temperature fluctuations, and limited physical security can all impact performance and reliability.

For example, a server engineered for optimal performance in a climate-controlled data center may overheat or fail when situated in a cramped, unventilated storage area. These problems not only cause unexpected downtime but also foster a negative perception of edge computing as being more troublesome than traditional IT deployments.

The Advantage of Purpose-Built Edge Solutions

To avoid these pitfalls, organizations should prioritize edge computing solutions specifically designed for the unique demands of edge environments. Purpose-built edge equipment is crafted from the ground up to address the challenges of remote, often rugged settings. Key characteristics of purpose-built edge solutions include:

• Durability: Equipment must withstand a broad range of environmental conditions, including temperature extremes, dust, and physical wear and tear.
• Self-Containment: Edge systems should be compact and self-sufficient, minimizing the need for additional infrastructure and allowing easy installation by existing staff.
• Minimal Maintenance: Purpose-built edge devices are designed to require minimal intervention, reducing the burden on IT teams and ensuring continuous operation.
• Flexibility and Universal Deployment: True edge solutions offer versatility, enabling deployment across diverse environments with minimal adaptation. They also provide robust security features to meet the varying needs of each site.

The primary takeaway for organizations considering edge computing is clear: Investing in purpose-built edge solutions is critical for achieving a reliable, efficient, and scalable edge deployment. Repurposing traditional data center equipment might seem cost-effective initially, but the long-term costs—both in terms of performance issues and maintenance demands—can outweigh any short-term savings.

Ensuring Scalability and Cost-Effectiveness

The physical footprint of the equipment is a critical consideration when deploying edge computing solutions. Many industries, from finance and retail to manufacturing and remote office branch offices (ROBOs), require reliable computing to support essential functions such as security, point-of-sale (POS) systems, and inventory management. However, these environments often cannot accommodate large, complex equipment or dedicate extensive space to IT infrastructure.

Maximizing Flexibility with a Compact Physical Footprint

Edge adopters must evaluate the equipment's size and requirements for access space, airflow, cabling, and maintenance. Smaller and more compact equipment generally enhances deployment flexibility by providing more placement options and reducing the risk of disruptions to regular business activities. Additionally, a minimal physical footprint typically correlates with lower cooling and power demands, which contributes to overall cost efficiency.

Compact edge solutions allow organizations to integrate technology into their existing environments without disrupting productive, revenue-generating activities. They enable businesses to avoid the creation of new dedicated spaces or substantial alterations to their operations in order to accommodate IT infrastructure.

Security Considerations with Compact Edge Deployments

A smaller form factor in edge computing equipment also offers security benefits. Compact devices can be more easily secured in hard-to-reach locations, such as ceiling mounts or within already secure areas, minimizing the risk of tampering. This is especially important in environments without dedicated, secured data rooms or closets. By maintaining a low-profile and versatile installation, edge equipment can blend into operational environments while still providing robust performance.

The Cost-Saving Benefits of Planned Lifecycle Management

Strategic lifecycle planning is essential for successful edge computing implementations. As hardware will eventually need upgrades or replacement, a systematic method for handling these transitions can greatly influence the total cost of ownership (TCO). By establishing a clear upgrade strategy, the necessity for emergency service calls is minimized, thus helping to prevent unforeseen costs and operational interruptions.

For instance, edge computing solutions featuring standardized configurations and connections make it easier to replace equipment with little effort. By following a clear upgrade strategy, organizations can swiftly and efficiently carry out hardware updates or replacements. This method helps maintain business continuity while improving the predictability of IT expenses, thus leading to a reduced Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) throughout the edge deployment's lifespan.

Edge Resilience: Reducing Downtime and Increasing Efficiency

The edge is where real work gets done—often in dirty, messy, hot, and noisy environments. Unlike traditional data centers, edge environments may lack ideal conditions such as stable power, controlled temperatures, and dedicated IT staff. Therefore, effective edge computing solutions must be designed to operate reliably under challenging circumstances while minimizing the need for on-site intervention.

To thrive in the unpredictable conditions of edge environments, edge computing solutions must incorporate several critical attributes:

• Autonomous Recovery: Edge platforms should enable automatic restoration of services via centralized orchestration after a power or network event. For example, when power is restored after an outage, systems should automatically reboot and restore services to maintain business continuity.
• Power Resilience:I n industrial settings, where power fluctuations are frequent, edge solutions with built-in voltage protection and automated failover mechanisms are crucial for uninterrupted operations. Unlike data center equipment that relies on sanitized power systems, edge devices must handle dips, spikes, and irregular power supplies gracefully.
• Remote Monitoring and Management: One of the primary goals of edge computing is to reduce the need for on-site IT personnel. Equipment should support remote diagnostics, reboots, and maintenance tasks, allowing IT teams to manage and resolve issues from centralized locations. This not only improves efficiency but also reduces operational costs associated with emergency service calls.
• Physical Robustness: Edge environments may expose equipment to dust, moisture, and temperature variations. Hardware should be rugged enough to withstand these conditions without compromising performance.

In practice, a failure-resistant edge solution might avoid needing physical buttons or manual resets entirely. Instead, all functions should be accessible remotely, and the system should be designed to automatically recover from common issues such as software glitches, connectivity losses, or power disruptions.

For instance, in a manufacturing setting where large HVAC systems, welding equipment, and production machinery share the same electrical circuits, an edge computing device with advanced power management features can prevent disruptions. Such a system would maintain stable operations even when the local power supply is less than ideal, avoiding costly downtimes and safeguarding critical processes.

Simplified Resource Additions (Scale Out) and Hardware Replacement

Edge environments are very dynamic. New applications are deployed regularly, and data volumes grow exponentially, creating new demands for edge infrastructure. Extend and enhance the edge deployment footprint with minimal disruption using standardized configurations. Failure to plan for expansion of the edge environment can lead to expensive forklift upgrades or multiple independent islands of infrastructure to manage, with all the complexity and cost associated with that kind of choice.

Automated Edge Deployment: Zero-Touch Provisioning

For all but the smallest organizations, this is the most important consideration because edge may involve multiplying sites and types of equipment on the network. If approached haphazardly, without a plan, edge can quickly spawn hard-to-manage complexity that can strain IT staff and have company-wide implications. To keep from becoming a nightmare, edge systems should take a standardized approach, requiring little or no customization and minimal installation skills. Edge should offer or embrace infrastructure as code (IaC), simplifying change control.

Repeatability means that service and support are standardized, so staff doesn’t need to research each installation before responding to a problem. Instead, they can count on using a consistent approach and methodology. This efficiency model is used across every other domain, from manufacturing to medicine, but it is too often ignored in edge deployments.

Similarly, management must not require specialized IT staff on-site, upgrades and infrastructure scaling must be non-disruptive, the foundation must be self-healing, and IT specialists must be able to manage the entire edge fleet seamlessly at scale. This is a logical corollary of deploying similar systems at every node. Those systems will have identical software and applications, identical deployment mechanisms, and every opportunity to enhance and improve standardization through repetition. With this approach, even inexperienced staff can quickly become experts.

Finally, look for zero-touch provisioning. This device-configuration process can be operated automatically and eliminates most of the burden on IT administrators when setting up, maintaining, or upgrading an edge system.

Edge Computing, the Cloud, and You: Building a Future-Ready Infrastructure

You’ve made significant strides in your edge computing journey. Now, it’s time to learn a few more key concepts. Soon, you’ll be prepared to master the edge! This time, focus on the overall structure or topology you want to implement for edge computing.

Topology in edge computing involves strategically placing and arranging edge devices, servers, and data processing resources based on where data is created and used. This includes decisions about data flow, computing power distribution, and redundancy to ensure resilience against failures.

The infrastructure topology of the future will strongly focus on hybrid environments. Most organizations will likely employ a combination of data center and cloud-based resources. Meanwhile, edge computing applications will be crucial in handling local processing needs. This “new” topology contrasts the traditional all-on-premises approach and the “born in the cloud, all cloud” perspective. It acknowledges that latency and bandwidth issues are significant, as are regulatory and autonomy concerns, which are other common drivers for on-premises infrastructure, especially as locally generated data becomes increasingly important.

Edge computing is increasingly important for many industries that embrace full-scale digitalization or are simply modernizing and growing to meet real organizational needs. Over the past decade, edge computing has expanded its role in these developments and is poised to extend its role further in the years ahead. Recent events have only heightened the importance of this growing role.

The increased focus on edge computing introduces complexities and presents opportunities. Understanding and selecting a topology and considering the fleet management strategies needed for edge computing systems are prerequisites for adopting a hybrid cloud + edge infrastructure, which demand thorough consideration of a range of factors.

Understanding Edge Computing Topologies: Finding the Right Fit

The continuous advancement of information technologies complicates the ability to foresee which topologies will become prominent in the future. However, several strong candidates for edge computing are emerging today. Typically, the prevalent topologies in edge computing, as identified by major analysts, vary based on the functions assigned at the edge and how these functions relate to cloud or on-premises data center computing.

• Regional Data Center Edge—CDN, Telecom DC, Colocation. This might be a service provider configuration with multiple tenants and, in comparison with other edge computing scenarios, is typically a very large-scale operation that differs from a traditional data center only in its relationship to an even larger central data center and in usually having a narrower focus.
• Local Data Center Edge—Small Data Center, Micro Data Center. This type of edge computing is typically oriented towards general services, possibly for a remote or branch office, and is characterized by minimal or no staffing.
• Gateway Edge—Intelligent Local/Field Gateway. This typically comprises a small cell or access point, such as a video management software (VMS) surveillance system, and offers zero-touch provisioning (ZTP) and configuration management.
• Device Edge—Embedded Computing Devices and Traditional PLCs. This type of edge, typically a single machine or work cell, has only enough intelligence to assist with a specific operation and provide some degree of reporting.
• Compute Edge—Edge Server/Storage Outside of a Data Center. Examples of this type of true edge computing potentially have the ability to include specialized services, such as video analytics-based applications, and likely include ZTP.

It’s important to note that these topologies aren’t rigid. There are gray areas, and some edge implementations can actually include multiple topologies. However, in most instances, one is clearly predominant.

Edge Fleet Management: Ensuring Longevity and Efficiency

For all edge topologies, especially for “true” edge, organizations must be aware of lifecycle management, specifically fleet management. They must plan for longevity to maximize the value of their expenditures and avoid dead-end investments. Their considerations should include concepts such as the following:

• ZTP and configuration management. These are relevant not just initially but also as hardware fails or capacity needs change. This is a rationale for designing many edge systems around scale-out clustered architectures like hyperconverged infrastructure rather than a single monolithic “box.”

ZTP is a vital “Day 1” feature and a long-term configuration attribute, as it significantly simplifies all ongoing activities related to edge computing. This means that the edge system itself, along with the devices connected to it, can be configured automatically, requiring little to no hands-on intervention or minimal remote involvement from staff. This has clear implications for the lifetime costs of edge computing and is accomplished through methods that enable automatic provisioning, configuration, and continuous system monitoring. Essentially, once an edge device with ZTP is powered on and connected, it reaches out to gather the information necessary to become fully operational.

• Centralized management for “Day 2.” This includes automation of ongoing management whenever possible. The Day 2 concept refers to all the operational realities that become important after the initial setup. Day 2 can sometimes be a surprise, as “simple” implementations become more complex when day-to-day management challenges are larger than expected. An edge computing approach should supplement ZTP, as noted, and offer ongoing visibility that’s simple yet comprehensive, building on the advantages of edge computing.
• Cloud integrations. Edge computing offers simplicity and cost advantages, and those advantages should extend to integration. One element that should always be considered is how cloud fits in. Cloud can, in some cases, replace a traditional, centralized on-premises data center or can supplement that data center. It can also provide bridging functions to other resources (for example, storing data later accessed by a data center). And cloud can offer advantages including relatively simple integration through the use of APIs. An edge computing solution should be ready to meld with cloud computing, whether Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) or Software as a Service (SaaS), including cloud storage integration.

Cloud capabilities are often more than sufficient to address edge computing storage needs, allow greater geographic resilience, and centralize access for analysis. Supplemental capabilities (typically SaaS) can enrich a given edge computing installation.

Organizations should consider cloud storage options in order to ensure the safety and protection of edge computing data and the ability to get up and running after disruptions, whether natural or human-caused. The cloud storage integration aspect, namely getting edge computing data to the cloud, can provide off-site resiliency, centralized data sharing, etc.

• Monitoring and Support. It’s crucial for edge computing to be highly visible, easy to support, and free from surprises. It should “just work,” and we should be able to anticipate problems as much as possible. An edge computing installation ought to emphasize reliability from the start. Edge computing systems must be designed for field use, not just operations in “sanitized” data centers or air-conditioned offices. However, when issues arise, they should be easily and quickly identifiable, with a clear path to resolution.

When selecting a topology and planning your edge computing implementation, consider some additional issues, including a “start at the end” suggestion: define what success looks like and how it will be measured. This could encompass the perspectives of the customer and other stakeholders.

Also, consider how your choice of edge computing can support the development of your other IT goals and initiatives. Next, address the important details. For instance, while edge computing typically enhances latency and response times, to achieve optimal results, it’s essential to identify and analyze the factors that will lead to better performance.

Finally, it’s prudent to examine the conceptual components of an edge computing implementation, including storage, computing capacity, and electrical power, as well as analytics capabilities, network and communication needs, and physical and logical security. Vendor solutions will address most of these issues, but having clarity about your needs will help ensure that those needs are met.

Rugged and Reliable: Meeting Industry Demands

Consider two industry sectors that frequently adopt edge computing: retail and manufacturing. Furthermore, consider how these deployment styles align with the specific needs of these sectors. For instance, manufacturers often have use cases that focus on asset tracking, remote operations, and logistics. These use cases may also extend to warehousing, operational automation, security, maintenance, and diagnostics.

Similarly, retail edge computing use cases often include supply chain control and optimization, digital signage, in-store experience, and (recently) proximity marketing.

Comparable experiences are found across all industries. Keep in mind that decisions regarding both topologies and vendors are crucial for avoiding proverbial truck rolls (emergency service calls). Clearly, edge computing loses some of its appeal when it becomes a source of vulnerability and unreliability. Choosing rugged and reliable options is essential, and selecting the right vendor can help ensure your organization avoids unexpected or unscheduled services.

Understanding edge computing topologies is the first step toward building an effective edge computing deployment to support these and other use cases. It takes a clear grasp of business needs and edge computing capabilities to complete the job successfully.

Jumping to the Edge: Taking the Next Step with Scale Computing

There are wide variations in what people mean when they discuss edge and the different topologies under which it is implemented. But the common thread is the need to collect and handle data faster and do more with it at a point closer to its source, the activity that needs the data, or both. The reward is a reduction in the “time to value” for any given data.

Now that you have a more comprehensive understanding of the concepts, terminology, and trade-offs involved in edge computing, it’s time to take a step back and evaluate your situation and the needs of your organization. Where are the areas of stress? Where should it expand? What is the best way to maximize existing investments in IT and beyond? Take your time, and get a sense of how edge computing can fit into your infrastructure today and align with your vision for the future.

The effort put into this can get you to the point where you understand the choices available to you and which ones make the most sense. Don’t be afraid. Make the jump and discover how the right edge choices can provide a real competitive advantage.

When that time comes, consider Scale Computing solutions to bring efficiency and scalability to edge computing. This is especially important at the network edge, where things like small space requirements and lack of staffing become critical concerns that must be addressed. See what it can do for you.