VMware has further expanded its portfolio for edge environments. The introduction of VMware Edge helps companies to more easily deploy their application environments to both the ‘near’ and ‘far’ edge.
Companies no longer need to focus solely on multi-cloud environments for their applications and associated data. The edge of the network is becoming increasingly important. Workloads, such as applications and associated or collected data, operate closer and closer to the locations where data is generated or applied.
‘Near’ and ‘far’ edge
VMware formulates two separate locations for the aforementioned ‘edge-native’ workloads: near and far edge. The so-called ‘near-edge’ is the environment where companies place and deliver their workloads between the cloud environment used and the remote location in question. A ‘far-edge’ is the location where workloads are placed with the least distance from the endpoints.
In addition, this requires the provision of underlying network and over-the-top (OTT) services. These include private connectivity services, multi-access edge computing and OTT services like SASE for security. Management — including configuration, installation and other management functionality for all edge locations — has to be done through a central environment.
VMware Edge
VMware wants to make it easier for its customers to manage these edge environments. That’s where the VMware Edge portfolio comes into play. Specifically, VMware Edge is a collection of integrated solutions to manage and secure edge-native applications or other workloads across multiple cloud environments, wherever they may reside.
Various components
The portfolio is a composite of several edge solutions. These include the new VMware Edge Compute Stack, VMware SASE and the VMware Telco Cloud Platform.
VMware Edge Compute Stack is a stack of integrated virtual machine (VM) and container solutions for modernizing and securing cloud applications for the far edge. This solution comes in three variants: Standard, Advanced and Enterprise. VMware also plans to build a light version of VMware Edge Compute Stack, facilitating a small edge environment for light applications.
VMware SASE offers SD-WAN functionality combined with cloud-based security functionality. The latter includes cloud-based web security, zero trust network access and firewalls. These services are delivered as-a-service for both near and far edge environments from a global network of PoPs.
The VMware Telco Cloud Platform offers opportunities for telecom operators in particular. This solution allows telecom operators to deploy edge services from their 4G/5G core environment to the Radio Access Network (RAN) environment or mobile base stations. As a result, telecom operators can more efficiently deliver various OTT services to their ultimate end users.
Collaboration with partners
In addition to the introduction of the VMware Edge portfolio, VMware also works with partners in the edge area. VMware Edge is suitable for the hardware solutions of Dell Technologies. In particular, Dell’s robust VxRail D Series infrastructure applications. VMware Edge is also native to various infrastructure applications from manufacturer Lenovo. Lenovo’s ThinkSystem SE350 Edge Servers are exemplary. Furthermore, VMware Edge is well suited for SmartHub.ai’s IoT software solutions.
18 hours ago
