As cloud edges merge, edge federation provides a means of interconnection
Edge federation provides a reliable interconnect for edge-to-cloud solutions that require seamless handoffs between different clouds. 5G provides Communication Service Providers (CSPs) and hyperscalers with the means to offer an increasing array of services to enterprises that depend on Multi-Access or Mobile Edge Computing (MEC). MEC moves computing and storage ability out of the cloud data center and closer to the user. Moving resources to the edge of the network can dramatically network latency.
MEC thus enables 5G network operations for specialized environments where latency is a factor, such as Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR), remote medical surgery, factory automation, Internet of Things (IoT) and autonomous vehicle operation.
Orchestrating edge-dependent network services to operate flawlessly between different cloud environments demands an interconnection layer. What’s more, telcos must deliver predictable and consistent Quality of Service (QoS) based on their Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
Building a dynamic edge hierarchy
“We’re starting to see the buildout of an edge hierarchy, all the way from centralized data centers to on-premise edges. Things are very dynamic in the service provider environment,” said Pat McCabe, Nokia’s senior marketing manager of Nokia’s IP networks portfolio.
“Edges are space, cost and resource-constrained,” McCabe explained.
Nokia’s solution to the problem is Adaptive Cloud Networking. Adaptive Cloud Network comprises data center fabric elements, edge cloud network automation tools, and seamless interconnect technology.
Achieving those goals requires a level of networking automation and interconnection that GSMA had in mind when it first proposed its Operator Platform Telco Edge Requirements in 2020. The GSMA published those requirements the following year. The GSMA provides the architectural requirements for edge platforms to hand off services seamlessly.
It’s that framework that edge-to-cloud companies like MobiledgeX are using to build their platform.
“We’re attempting not to repeat some pathologies of the past in the industry,” MobiledgeX CEO and founder Jason Hoffman told RCR Wireless News.
“A lot of these types of standards tend to be crafted by vendors or for vendors or for some internal telco reason. On the other end of it, when you think about who is using an edge, and what type of experience they would expect. How do we make that as uniform as possible and, in fact, hide a lot of the issues?” he posited.
Federating helps bridge past problems
Hoffman describes the process of developing industry standards — ones that will stand the test of time as foundation and useful — as a matter of empathy. The people developing the standards need to center on the people who will be using them, not the business cases for the standard to exist. This is especially important to solve the problem that the GSMA was endeavoring to solve with its edge requirements to begin with, he noted.
“The edge can’t have the same degree of Balkanization that we have in cloud,” said Hoffman. “In order for MEC to flourish, he added, the mobile industry needs to be more heterogeneous and multi-vendor aware.
“What’s your anchor point, for empathy? Edge computing has to be easy for end users to consume. You need to make your end users’ lives easier,” he said.
Federating the edge, said Hoffman, is about overcoming problems that have developed after different public and private cloud infrastructure evolution and development.
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