Taking Hyperconvergence to the Edge
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In the last few years, we’ve enjoyed a wide variety of options for IT infrastructure including public cloud, private cloud, hybrid cloud, hyperconverged infrastructure, and more. Despite these many options, a new need has arisen in the form of edge computing. What is edge computing and why is it needed? I’m glad you asked.
What is it? Edge computing is the necessity for on-prem IT infrastructure resources outside of the typical datacenter. These edge computing resource needs are small, not requiring a full datacenter or even a small datacenter implementation. Edge computing may require infrastructure as small as an IoT device, or infrastructure as large as a micro-datacenter of multiple compute appliances.
If you are imagining edge computing in the context of remote office/branch office computing, you aren’t wrong, but edge computing can also be adjacent to manufacturing systems, medical equipment, point of sales, IoT devices, and more. The needs of edge computing are widespread across every industry.
But why edge computing and not simply cloud? Cloud computing has many benefits, especially scalability and elasticity, however the almighty cloud is not without its limits. Chief among these limits are internet connectivity and latency. On-prem infrastructure assets for edge computing provide more reliable performance and connectivity to keep systems operational even if internet connectivity fails.
Unlike full datacenter implementations, edge computing is small enough to not warrant dedicated IT staff, therefore the infrastructure needs to be easy to implement and manage, as well as easily connected back to the primary datacenter and even the cloud as needed. These requirements are what make hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) technology well-suited to edge computing.
Introducing HC3 Edge. Scale Computing was not only one of the first to provide HCI solutions, but has become a market leader by providing solutions small enough and at a low enough cost to satisfy the needs of some of the smallest businesses. HC3 systems are not only known for being low cost, but also for being extremely easy to manage and easily scalable.
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HC3 Edge is a range of customized HC3 systems that can be as small as an IoT device with an Intel Atom processor or range up to a multi-appliance micro-datacenter. The advantage of HC3 for edge computing is a combination of the efficient performance, ease of use, and integration with public cloud and private cloud HC3 systems.
Not a stripped-down system, HC3 Edge has all of the features and functionality of mainline HC3 systems and can be a managed along with HC3, HC3 Cloud Unity, and other HC3 Edge systems from a single multi-system management interface. HC3 Edge is the edge computing component for your complete hybrid IT infrastructure.
