- Edge Computing sites are widely distributed, often unmanned and
require high levels of performance, resilience and security
- A collaborative, integrated ecosystem of vendors, system
integrators, and managed service providers is critical to deploy IT
at the edge
- Ease of deployment, pre-integration, and remote management are
key aspects of an edge computing solution produced by the
integrated ecosystem
LONDON, May 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- In an increasingly
digitized and data-driven world, the challenge of providing high
levels of compute power, connectivity and availability to where it
is needed most, requires a hybrid architecture of edge data
centres.
To support IT professionals in developing a strategy to deploy
IT at the edge, Schneider Electric, the leader in digital
transformation of energy management and automation, has today
released a new White Paper entitled 'Solving Edge Computing
Infrastructure Challenges'. The paper creates a structure for
anticipating potential issues at the edge and details how to
identify an ecosystem of partners with which to collaborate,
integrate and deliver all of the essential infrastructure
components required.
While providing many great benefits to users across industrial,
enterprise, and retail consumer environments, edge data centres
also present a number of challenges in terms of how they are built,
deployed and managed. Due to their distributed nature and the
growing number of deployments, edge sites are often unmanned and
lack available IT staff, which makes them hard to manage
efficiently, while ensuring low service and maintenance costs.
Collaborative vendor ecosystem is the key to deploy faster,
more resilient and cost-effective at the edge
According to Worldwide Technology, "The ability to pre-configure
technology platforms and devices before shipment increases
deployment speed and can reduce field engineering costs by 25% to
40%, increasing order processing speed by 20% and reducing
maintenance costs by 7%." As such, a pre-integrated and
collaborative approach within the vendor ecosystem, in addition to
rule-based configuration tools, reference designs and cloud-based
management software are key to making edge solutions faster to
deploy, more resilient, and cost-effective for customers.
"The unique challenges of deploying and maintaining IT at the
edge of the network dictates a new collaborative model", said
Wendy Torell, Sr. Research Analyst
at Schneider Electric's Science Centre. "This highly integrated
approach involves vendors and partners working together to make
selecting, deploying, and maintaining edge compute solutions much
easier and more cost effective for end-users."
This collaborative approach requires an integrated 'edge'
ecosystem comprised of IT and Infrastructure Vendors, Original
Equipment Manufacturers (OEM's), Systems Integrators and Managed
Service Providers (MSP's), who work together in specific ways to
simplify, accelerate, and ensure resiliency at the edge. The
ecosystem works for the end user to monitor and maintain all edge
assets, while delivering greater levels of uptime and
cost-effectiveness for the end user. The ecosystem, in effect,
becomes the extended workforce of the end user.
The responsibility of the vendors is to create simple tools to
guide the selection and configuration of data centres, which are
optimized for specific customer applications. Whether in retail,
industrial or commercial consumer environments, vendors should test
and optimize solutions, providing reference designs and systems
that allow rapid integration of hardware and software management
tools.
Additionally today's businesses must rely on cloud-based
management software, namely Data Centre Management as a Service
(DMaaS) solutions such as Schneider Electric's EcoStruxure IT and
on-premise Data Centre Infrastructure Management (DCIM) tools, to
manage multiple edge data centres efficiently in real-time. Using a
combination of pre-integrated hardware solutions, in addition to
cloud-based software, can reduce field engineering costs by between
25% and 40%, while increasing uptime and availability.
Overall, a collaborative ecosystem of vendors, partners,
software and tools should be chosen to augment a customer's edge
computing requirements; from configuration to assembly and
delivery, through to operation, management and
maintenance.
White Paper No 277 "Solving Edge Computing Infrastructure
Challenges" is immediately available for free download by clicking
here, or visiting http://www.apc.com/wp?wp=277
About EcoStruxure
EcoStruxure is Schneider Electric's open, interoperable,
IoT-enabled system architecture and platform. It delivers enhanced
value around safety, reliability, efficiency, sustainability, and
connectivity for customers. EcoStruxure leverages advancements in
IoT, mobility, sensing, cloud, analytics, and cybersecurity to
deliver innovation at every level. This includes connected
products, edge control and apps, analytics, and services.
EcoStruxure has been deployed in more than 480,000 sites, with the
support of more than 20,000 system integrators and developers,
connecting over 1.6 million assets under management through over 40
digital services. Click here for more information about
EcoStruxure IT.
About the authors
Patrick Donovan is a Senior
Research Analyst for the Data Center Science Center at Schneider
Electric. He has over 20 years of experience developing and
supporting critical power and cooling systems for Schneider
Electric's Secure Power division including several award-winning
power protection, efficiency and availability solutions.
Wendy Torell is a Senior Research
Analyst at Schneider Electric's Data Center Science Center. She
researches best practices in data centre design and operation, and
develops TradeOff Tools to help clients optimize the availability,
efficiency and cost of their data centre environments. She also
consults with clients on availability science approaches and design
practices to help them meet their data centre performance
objectives.
About Schneider Electric
Schneider
Electric is leading the Digital Transformation of Energy Management
and Automation in Homes, Buildings, Data Centers, Infrastructure
and Industries.
With global presence in over 100 countries, Schneider is the
undisputable leader in Power Management – Medium Voltage, Low
Voltage and Secure Power, and in Automation Systems.
We provide integrated efficiency solutions, combining energy,
automation and software. In our global Ecosystem, we collaborate
with the largest Partner, Integrator and Developer Community on our
Open Platform to deliver real-time control and operational
efficiency.
We believe that great people and partners make Schneider a great
company and that our commitment to Innovation, Diversity and
Sustainability ensures that Life Is On everywhere, for everyone and
at every moment.
www.schneider-electric.com
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Related resources:
- APC Edge Computing Solutions
- APC Local Edge Configurator
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