We revisit edge infrastructure and the motivations behind building and managing edge infrastructure with an unusual take. In this case, we ask ourselves if all of these edge devices are becoming more software defined or becoming more standardized, off the shelf component tree. And will that change how we look at managing and running edge infrastructure? Will we shift compute and operations processes into these ever smarter devices? The answer is going to surprise you.
If you follow cloud2030 discussions or any of my podcasting over the last decade, Edge is a very interesting topic to me. Today’s episode is a short update on the state of the edge from a very specific position.
In this discussion, I walk through with Josh why edge has been hard for us to nail down from a technology perspective. This is something of special interest to RackN as we keep honing and refining our IT edge infrastructure technology set.
How do Edge and Compute and SaaS and cloud influence everything that we do? We covered topics from VMware explorer and talked a lot about Edge. That led to AI ml, which led to another topic, which led to another topic.
If you enjoy hearing about how interconnected our technology and choices are, everything from Bitcoin to edge, and cloud and government interaction, this is the podcast for you because we cover pretty much all of it and connect it together.
Remember that on September 14, we are having one of our quarterly book club meetings on the death of expertise.
In the Cloud 2030 podcast episode from August 24th, CEO Rob Hirschfeld discusses the shift from the rental/service economy to owning production assets in the context of cloud and SaaS models. He highlights the financial commitment and decoupling of capital expenses associated with service usage, emphasizing the value of owning assets in certain scenarios. Hirschfeld encourages deliberate decision-making regarding asset ownership, stressing the importance of understanding the long-term consequences and skill-building for businesses. He invites listeners to explore these topics further in the complete August 24th Cloud 2030 conversation.
We break down the edge compute cluster by the Chick-fil-A team, and we talk about how they use Kubernetes, specifically K3s in 2500 of their restaurants to build an IoT and restaurant management system. This system uses Intel Knucks, a commodity commercial residential grade hardware.
It’s an update on a four year old Kubernetes story with a lot of buzz, and they show how they have been successful building this system.
If you’re interested in Kubernetes, Edge DevOps and distributed systems, this episode has a lot to enjoy.
In the Cloud 2030 podcast episode on Chick-fil-A’s Kubernetes control plane, Rob Hirschfeld highlights the challenges and benefits of transitioning cloud infrastructure and applications to edge locations using commodity gear. He emphasizes the success of Chick-fil-A’s approach in bringing cloud tools and platforms to non-cloud environments, showcasing the potential for mapping cloud processes back into edge computing. Hirschfeld encourages listeners to explore the detailed discussion on Chick-fil-A’s edge clusters and engage in broader conversations on Cloud 2030 at the2030.cloud.
We get an update for the first time in four years about Chick-fil-A edge Kubernetes clusters that gets to the heart of how building distributed infrastructure works and what the challenges are.
We had a fantastic conversation about laying the foundations for this. We came away with two really important thoughts about what edge infrastructure looks like, how you pick it, can Kubernetes be used, what is IoT and integration, and the design considerations that go into building this environment.
Listen to this podcast as a preview for a longer article.
We do a 2022 retrospective slash 2023 prediction episode – a sort of end of the year classic for us, except our predictions and look ahead are different from most people’s.
We’re looking at some broader trends around software, build materials, impact of GPT (which will be a future episode), edge Technology, cloud adoption, security, faults and failures.
Not your garden variety look back look ahead type of show.
In the Cloud 2030 Podcast’s December 15th retrospective on 2022, Rob Hirschfeld discusses the significant momentum and necessity behind the adoption of Software Bill of Materials (SBoMs) for describing deployed software in a structured, programmatic manner. While emphasizing the immediate security and resilience benefits, Hirschfeld also highlights the broader economic advantages of SBoMs, drawing parallels with their use in manufacturing to provide controls and structure for normal activities. The conversation delves into various insights about the industry’s direction in 2023, making it a valuable episode beyond the focus on SBoMs. Those interested in these discussions are encouraged to check out the full episode on the2030.cloud and participate in the ongoing conversations.
How is data center infrastructure adapted to edge distributed ledger technology workloads?
We think through if those demands (blockchain, proof-of-stake coins, etc) are changing the way we look at data center infrastructure, and the short answer is yes. We also explore the impacts of the type of workloads that we’re running and how we distribute them, rather than the type of equipment that we need to buy.
This conversation quickly becomes one about what we want to do with our infrastructure, not what the infrastructure is.
In the May 24th Cloud 2030 Podcast episode, Rob Hirschfeld explores how distributed ledger technologies like blockchains could impact application design and workload distribution across infrastructure. The discussion shifts from the impact on data centers to the potential for distributed applications that are more portable, capable of running in smaller data centers. While acknowledging missing pieces in building such applications, the conversation highlights the opportunity for more portable and cost-effective workloads. Join the comprehensive discussions at the2030cloud to delve deeper into this transformative intersection of distributed ledgers and infrastructures.
Today’s episode is about measuring complexity. Complexity is a topic that we cover a lot. And in this case, we really went past the idea that we could measure complexity, and into looking at the causes and costs of complexity.
We had a remarkable conversation about what it means to say something’s too complex? What are the consequences of complexity? And what should we do about them? Ultimately, it’s about how how we measure the cost or the risk of complexity?
In the end, we are reframing complexity in business terms and human terms. That is the important approach to looking at complexity.
In the March 3rd Cloud 2030 Podcast discussion on complexity, Rob Hirschfeld delves into the notion that measuring or fully understanding complexity might be challenging, leading to an exploration of its sources and causes. The conversation shifts towards viewing complexity through the lenses of risk and change management, reframing it as a challenge rather than inherently negative. The nuanced discussion emphasizes the importance of mitigating complexity-related risks for more productive outcomes. To engage in these conversations and enhance your understanding of complexity, visit the2030.cloud.
We discussed the intersection of serverless and digital twinning. These two concepts are really tightly intermingled!
We discarded the idea of a central single serverless hub managing everything; instead, we think sites would actually have a mesh of serverless, interconnected event processing and stream processing systems. This approach is much more function dependent, but really opens up a lot of interesting discussions and possibilities.
We also discussed how to manage all of this meshed, serverless subscription modeling eventing, and digital twinning.
Rob Hirschfeld, CEO and co-founder of RackN and host of the Cloud 2030 roundtable discussions, shares insights from the January 13th discussion on serverless and digital twinning. He emphasizes the significant overlap between modeling data through digital twinning and building serverless systems that subscribe to events for action, transformation, and control. Hirschfeld underscores the need for a joint discussion on these topics, highlighting that a sustainable serverless system requires a reliable model, and a useful digital twin system must connect inputs and outputs to the real world. Interested listeners are invited to explore the full episode at the2030.cloud for a comprehensive discussion on these critical industry aspects.
We started talking about blockchain and the edge, but that is not where it ended up at all! Our fascinating journey started with web3, and surprisingly, it’s potential for distributed infrastructure and distributed web.
That led us to edge: managing and trusting devices on the edge through distributed ledger (DLT). That led us to the distributed ledger landscape. The journey is important because some of these technologies will be essential for establishing trust in systems.
In this conversation, we walk through the progression of these very important topics.
Rob Hirschfeld, CEO and co-founder of RackN and host of the Cloud 2030 podcast, provides a hot take on the January 20th discussion about Blockchain on the Edge. The conversation delves into trust, identity, and the need for reliable communication among systems, leading to a focus on distributed ledger technology (DLT) to address these challenges. Hirschfeld acknowledges the complexity of implementing DLT but invites listeners to explore the longer podcast for a comprehensive discussion on potential solutions and a roadmap for the future at the2030.cloud.
