Authored by Ron Cadwell, founder and CEO of phoenixNAP. Prepared for publishing by the Editorial team.
The Internet of Things (IoT) creates such vast amounts of data that it has forever changed the data center landscape. Autonomous vehicles, wearable devices, mobile apps, and smart homes need low latency and high bandwidth computing power – they require a decentralized and distributed system of servers.
Anticipating a further shift towards edge computing and 5G workloads, we launched a Bare Metal Cloud edge location in Austin, Texas. The architecture used for the deployment will accelerate transfer speeds and connectivity with all other BMC locations across the U.S. We plan to build many more as part of our strategic priority.
In this article, I explain why we are taking Bare Metal Cloud to the edge and what a great opportunity it is.
What is Edge Computing
Edge computing is a type of computing that brings enterprise workloads closer to the data source (i.e., IoT devices) at the edge of a network. It involves the use of edge servers to communicate and gather data from edge devices. The data gathered is processed close to the devices, so less data needs to travel to the central server.
Edge computing enables real-time data processing at the edge, providing the following benefits:
- Lower latency.
- Higher processing efficiency.
- Higher bandwidth availability.
- Higher reliability.
- Fast data processing that enables new and exciting use cases.
- Compliance - sometimes data needs to remain within a specific region to adhere to regulations.
One of the main reasons for the shift towards edge computing is the growth of the Internet of Things. Statista projects the number of IoT devices to almost triple, from 9.7 billion in 2020 to more than 29 billion in 2030. Consumer markets and other business verticals employ IoT devices, with the consumer market having a slight lead with just over 60% of all IoT-connected devices.
How Cloud and Edge Computing Work Together
Investing into edge computing as a cloud operator might seem counterintuitive, as the two are considered opposites and treated as an either/or proposition. However, edge computing isn't an alternative or replacement for cloud computing. It is an extension that solves many of cloud’s core limitations.
Namely, cloud computing has high latency and slower response times as the distance between the data source and the server increases. Edge computing, being close to the data source, addresses that issue and provides low latency and dedicated bandwidth. Edge servers run low-latency apps that handle time sensitive workloads. It also filters data and sends it to the central cloud server which handles more time-consuming data analysis.
Edge infrastructure also makes cloud computing more resistant to network failures, as it reduces the amount of data that moves between centralized servers and end devices.
PhoenixNAP offers Bare Metal Cloud GitHub actions as an automated task runner that reacts to GitHub events in your git repository. Without spinning up another server, you achieve the desired CI/CD functionality directly from GitHub.
Bringing Bare Metal Cloud to the Edge
Together with our partner American Tower, phoenixNAP has brought edge architecture to the U.S. Southwest like never before. Deployed in a prime location, our edge data center provides low-latency (10 milliseconds) access to Bare Metal Cloud.
The Bare Metal Cloud edge location in Austin delivers advanced network speeds through multiple virtual cross-connects to a Megaport Cloud Router. The virtual router pushes traffic from the edge to all other locations in the U.S., accelerates transfer speeds, and supports 5G services. Enterprises can leverage the 10-milliseconds access to BMC to reliably improve performance for live data streams and real-time analytics.
Bare Metal Cloud customers in Texas and all other locations have access to the following features:
- Deploy scalable Bare Metal Cloud servers in a matter of minutes via API, CLI or web-based portal.
- A secure single-tenant, non-virtualized environment, with no noisy neighbors or resource sharing.
- Access to 5G-ready edge infrastructure, providing ultra-low latency.
- Automated server management through Infrastructure as Code tools (Terraform, Ansible, Pulumi, etc.).
- 30+ pre-configured server instance types.
- Managed rack, power, cooling, and security infrastructure frees your IT teams to focus on optimization instead.
- Flexible pay-as-you-go billing and bandwidth options with discounts for monthly or yearly reservations.
- 15 TB free bandwidth on a 20 Gbps network with free DDoS protection.
Read our article on Edge Computing Challenges and how Bare Metal Cloud addresses these challenges.
Going Beyond Infrastructure as a Service
With Bare Metal Cloud, our customers can create the perfect blend of servers in 7 locations worldwide, and quickly add, remove, or switch between them as requirements change. The server setup is effortless and identical for core or edge servers.
- We use the same configurations, software, and hardware in both, which means your workloads function the same on core or edge servers.
- Cloud-native apps are transferable and can maintain their existing associations and familiar user experience.
- Users don't have to learn new skills or processes to operate edge infrastructure.
If your organization prefers a GUI, server deployment and management is made easy by our web-based Bare Metal Cloud Portal. Via web portal or via API/CLI, you can deploy Bare Metal Cloud servers, deploy Rancher-managed Kubernetes clusters, view billing and usage reports, manage server reservations, manage your network and IP allocations, manage SSH keys and API credentials, with new functionalities being added regularly.
Stay competitive and ensure real-time responsiveness for your edge applications.
Deploy your Bare Metal Cloud Edge Server in Austin, Texas today!
Conclusion
Workloads in the IoT edge computing era won't be confined to the data center. By expanding into edge computing, we have reinforced our Bare Metal Cloud servers and given them more power and reliability without losing any of the qualities that made it unique in the first place.
We will continue taking Bare Metal Cloud to the very edge and bring processing power wherever it’s needed.
