Kaloom Participates in “Laying the Foundations for an Open Edge” OCP webinar

With the rapid expansion of 5G, data is increasingly being pushed to the edge of networks. This shift presents a unique challenge for network operators, who must now find ways to efficiently manage and process this data. To meet this challenge, many are turning to cloud-native distributed edge software solutions. These solutions offer several benefits, including the ability to disaggregate hardware and software, providing greater flexibility and scalability. Additionally, they offer improved performance and better management capabilities. Earlier this month, Kaloom participated in a webinar, “Laying the Foundations for an Open Edge,” with Open Compute Project, HPE and AvidThink. Presenters included our SVP Product Management, Philippe Michelet, and Jon Mechling, Senior Product Manager of HPE. AvidThink analyst, Roy Chua, was the host and Cliff Grossner of OCP served as moderator. The recording is available on the OCP website.

The panelists focused on cloud-native distributed edge software solutions that enable open, disaggregated network models as 5G pushes data to the edge.

Key takeaways include:

• Automated, fully programmable distributed edge software fabrics address edge network challenges including complexity, distribution, diversity, disconnectedness and scale.
• These software solutions satisfy the requirements of emerging applications including application availability, bandwidth improvements, <10ms latency, scalability, security and reduced TCO. New application use cases include VR/AR, industrial robotics, connected cars, remote medicine and more.
• P4 is essential for distributed edge networking and offers operators enhanced programmability of switches, SmartNICs and servers without having to swap hardware. P4 also helps networks evolve as applications evolve, eliminating reliance on proprietary implementation and increasing flexibility.
• Distributed edge platforms utilize containers and fully virtualized network slicing to enable a “write once, run everywhere” capability, reducing the complexity and cost of ownership for distributed edge infrastructure while accelerating ROI by freeing up resources for monetization.
• Content delivery is an edge application, but some of these new 5G services and revenue streams are still a few years away. Therefore, it is important that operators build a foundation to future-proof their distributed edge networks.

“The Telco industry is following the trend of hyperscalers by moving to a more open, disaggregated multi-tenant environment,” said Philippe Michelet. “By isolating a set of customers or applications in a given slice, operators can separate the different quality of services, including latency, and minimize OPEX and CAPEX costs.”

Unifying distributed edge networks

The presenters asserted that cloud and edge networks will be managed together, not separately, in the future of distributed edge networking. At Kaloom, we’ve always been champions of open, P4-driven software-defined fabrics that are programmable and fully automated, and we know that it takes a village to unlock the power of the distributed edge. Open-source collaboration is key in collapsing the infrastructure siloes of today’s networks, and distributed edge fabrics that rely on containerization and virtualized network slicing are pushing the industry toward intent-driven infrastructure.

Complexity as an opportunity

Management complexity has always been a pain point for network operators, as administrators must deploy new equipment racks to run network functions. These complexity issues are only heightened by 5G rollout at the edge. The panelists also noted that edge networking complexity presents opportunities to innovate, as open ecosystems and programmable edge fabrics enable the digitalization of new business sectors and shorter service cycles through continuous deployment.

The vision of distributed edge networking

When moving data to the edge for low latency capability, orchestration and automation are critical. Programmable distributed edge fabrics simplify edge networking through cutting-edge automation that unifies edge and cloud data center networks, virtualized and containerized networks and compute and storage networks. Through our P4-driven Unified Edge Fabric™, operators can finally unlock the value of the edge and realize true software-defined networking by reducing the complexity and cost of their distributed edge networks through one fully automated, programmable solution.

To learn more, check out the recording here: https://www.opencompute.org/summit/ocp-educational-webinar-program/on-demand-webinars