Page 13 - Issue 2 2023

EDGE COMPUTING

The new edge is coming to transform

the computing experience

By Carla Petersen, channel manager at Westcon-Comstor

dge computing is not a new technology. Emerging during the ‘first wave’ (2000-2010)
of the internet, when the need to distribute content closer to the user was a priority,
Eedge started gaining traction. It was considered the ideal solution to solve the ‘last
mile’ problem. Today, it has become such an integral part of computing that the global
edge market is projected to reach $155.9 billion by 2030.
Spurred by the ‘second wave’ (2010-2020) of the internet defined by the cloud and
mobility, and then the emergence of the current ‘third wave’ (2020-current), where the
focus is now on devices and mobility, edge computing has evolved significantly over the
past two decades. F5 CTO Geng Lin covers this evolutionary path in more detail in his
paper “The Third Wave of the Internet.”

Growing threat landscape
One of the key insights from this paper is that, until recently, there has been no need for
a platform at the edge. Application design and architecture readily adapted to the cloud.
However, the growing digital economy saw increased threat actors, with volumetric Carla Petersen
attacks disrupting businesses worldwide. In recent years, malicious code and malware
have become a path to profit. experiences. It also requires attention
Given its nature, the edge could still protect organisations and applications by to parallel trends in technology around
inserting services closer to the user. This meant bad actors were detected and neutralised observability and using artificial
before they could disrupt business or manage to breach a company’s defences. intelligence and machine learning for
However, more advanced challenges emerge during this ‘third wave’ of the internet business, security and operational
as new capabilities are injected into devices and applications. The number of devices and automation.
users constantly communicating over the network still poses a performance challenge While broad characteristics, such
despite the increasing bandwidth we can access. Attackers have grown even more as described by F5 CTO Geng Lin in his
malicious and are leveraging advanced technologies to exploit the pervasiveness of Edge 2.0 manifesto, provide overarching
applications and devices. guidance for an Edge 2.0 platform, design
considerations at the architectural level
Platform centricity are also needed.
The edge has not been designed to effectively support the distribution of apps and data; Terms like ‘secure by default,’
this is where the emergence of an edge application platform has become necessary, as ‘deliver autonomy,’ and ‘provide native
one does not simply throw together such a platform. observability’ are easily thrown about.
Bolting on the ability to deploy computing on existing edge networks does not fully But what do those mean regarding
address the challenges posed by the ‘third wave’ of the internet. Furthermore, it does not technology and approaches that must
fully take advantage of how devices and endpoints can become more active participants be considered? More importantly, how
in solving these challenges. should they be incorporated into an Edge
After all, applications and devices are no longer passive receivers of information. 2.0 application platform?
They can initiate connections themselves and influence the decision-making process. The F5 paper ‘Edge 2.0 Core
Therefore, a new approach that looks beyond the traditional viewpoint of the edge is Principles’ examines this more closely.
based on applications as passive receivers of information becomes critical. This will also For the company, Edge 2.0 is defined by
provide the impetus needed to realise the power of distributed computing as it has a focus on experience centricity and a
evolved over the past two decades. platform that is not tied to the location
or even type of architecture. User
More security-minded simplicity and being more application-
This approach ensures the need for security, scale and speed of applications at the edge. and operational-centric are crucial
Critically, this must be done without negatively impacting the developer and operational components of this new environment.

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