DevOps loves Edge: How to deploy and monitor applications across thousands of sites | Carl Moberg

Deploying and monitoring applications across thousands of edge sites requires a shift from centralized control to distributed, autonomous systems, considering regional variations, local requirements, and edge-specific challenges.

Key takeaways
  • Cloud infrastructure reduces the importance of location, especially when combined with CDN.
  • Centralized cloud infrastructure is common, but edge environments have different requirements.
  • Strong configuration management is essential, but edge environments require local customization.
  • Edge environments require thinking about data privacy regulations, physical security, and local needs.
  • Edge computing is different from centralized cloud, with unique challenges such as:
    • Many locations, low resources, and diverse infrastructure.
    • Need to consider edge-specific requirements, such as hardware limitations and physical security.
    • Edge applications require targeted deployments, monitoring, and observability.
    • Need to consider differences between edge environments and centralized cloud environments.
  • Kubernetes and Docker are effective for managing edge computing.
  • Edge environments require consideration of local factors, such as:
    • Data privacy regulations.
    • Physical security.
    • Local needs and requirements.
  • Edge computing requires a shift from centralized control to distributed, autonomous systems.
  • Future application architecture should use cattle (many small, decentralized instances) rather than pets (hand-crafted, centralized instances).
  • Edge environments require application monitoring and observability to ensure healthy operation.
  • Edge computing requires considering autonomous and resilient systems, like point of sales applications.
  • Edge environments require considering regional variations and local requirements.
  • Edge computing requires targeted deployments, such as:
    • Reducing expectations on infrastructure stability and availability.
    • Providing rapid elasticity and support for diverse infrastructure.
    • Ensuring application autonomy and resiliency in edge environments.