Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Daniel Beazer
How LinkedIn is using Azure Front Door for edge build-out
LinkedIn recently described how it uses the edge to support the popular professional networking web site. The engineering team wrote a blog post to talk about edge deployments and its migration away from an in-house solution to Azure Edge. LinkedIn is one of many large web properties that is owned by a hyperscaler cloud provider — Microsoft, in this case — but doesn’t actually use the in-house cloud. YouTube is another example of this — it has yet to be migrated to GCP.
AWS completes Local Zone roll out, adds international locations as stepping stones outside of core regions
Amazon’s AWS has simultaneously announced the completion of its first sixteen AWS Local Zones in the US and said plans to build 32 new local zones internationally. Local Zones are a component of the AWS edge play, an important evolutionary step for the cloud provider which has traditionally used the scale of its massive centralized data centers to drive profits and product development for its customers. AWS Local Zone is essentially an edge data center.
UK football club gives 5G broadcast capabilities a tryout
An English football club is trialing 5G-enabled in-stadia broadcasts at its matches. MK Dons fans at a recent match against local rival Ipswich Town were able to view multiple high-quality streams of the action on their mobile phone as the match progressed. The trial was set up by 5G Vista, a UK government-backed initiative that aims to demonstrate the potential of 5G broadcast technology.
Carriers versus big tech enters new phase with 5G and the edge; will carriers lose the Squid Games?
The rise of edge and 5G is giving a new impetus to one of the longest-running disputes in IT between carriers and content owners. Telco operators are ramping up their efforts to force content providers like Facebook and YouTube to pay for the cost of delivering ever-increasing quantities of data to consumers.
EdgeConnex may electrify business with a move into EV charging for fleets
Edge data center pioneer EdgeConnex appears to be moving business in an interesting new direction — almost literally. The company is building up an Electric Vehicle team with executive and intern hires to acquire, develop and operate electrical fleet charging stations across the United States.
Nokia signs 5G and edge partnership with Kyndryl
Nokia has signed a global network and edge partnership with IBM spin-off Kyndryl. The plan is to combine Nokia’s Digital Automation Cloud with Kyndryl’s system integrator expertise and bring LTE and 5G private networks to industrial enterprises. The two already have a joint customer in the form of Dow Inc.
IBM acquires 5G telco consulting practice Sentaca
IBM has bought a consulting firm to bolster its 5G aspirations. Sentaca is headquartered in Boston, Mass. and specializes in migrating mission-critical telco applications onto the public cloud. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Sentaca has over 90 employees in its Boston and Toronto offices. For IBM, 5G is a core part of its strategy as it continues to overhaul and refocus its business IBM plans to place Sentaca in the Hybrid Cloud Services part of its consulting business.
AT&T report shines spotlight on edge security, including 5G networks
AT&T recently issued a new report called “2022 Securing the Edge” in which the US carrier surveyed over a thousand security practitioners about their approaches to edge security. The report was heavily slanted towards 5G — not surprising given AT&T’s investments in that area — but it contained some interesting data points. While the report was centered around security it also contained some useful data on edge computing use cases and general adoption.
Vodafone reveals dedicated silicon lab to boost Open RAN plans
Vodafone is partnering with over twenty chip suppliers to set up an innovation lab in Malaga, Spain as it continues its Open RAN push. Malaga is mostly known as a beach holiday and party town but it is also an R&D center for Vodafone. Now Vodaphone and the likes of Intel, ARM, Qualcomm will be working there to create dedicated chips for open radio access networks.
IOTech upgrades Edge Xpert platform, goes ‘edge-to-edge’ against AWS
IOTech has announced a significant upgrade of its Edge Xpert platform. The IoT deployment tool is based on Linux Foundation’s open-source compute platform EdgeX and IOTech has redesigned Edge Xpert for communications between microservices at the edge. It has also added a new message bus and APIs to improve the platform’s performance. These improvements follow the release of version 2 of EdgeX, a project to which IoTech contributed.
AtlasEdge buys data center in Leeds, latest in string of acquisitions
An aerial view of the Leeds facility. Source: Hardy Fisher Services AtlasEdge was one of the more interesting entrants into the edge market in EMEA last year and is continuing to be an active acquirer to grow its edge presence. Formed when Digital Colony teamed up with Liberty Global to form a joint venture targeting the European edge data center market, it has now acquired an 11,000 sq. ft. data center in Leeds in the North of England.
Verizon and Atos partner for private 5G and the edge in Europe
Verizon is teaming up with systems integrator Atos to bring a 5G edge solution to the market. The US carrier doesn’t have a spectrum license in Europe, so the carrier and Atos will be looking to build out private 5G deployments for enterprises based locally or for Verizon’s global client base.
Wind River acquired by Aptiv for $4.3bn
Wind River, an early pioneer in the embedded computing space, has been snapped up by automotive software specialist Aptiv. Wind River has had some impressive wins in the 5G virtualization space of late, but hasn’t been as top of mind as other vendors in the wireless and edge computing space. Although Wind River is gaining traction in one of the newest and hottest markets for software, the company is no start-up — it is actually forty years old.
JP Morgan spent $2bn in 2021 on data centers, driven by edge requirements
JP Morgan made an interesting disclosure on its latest earnings call — the Wall Street behemoth spent $2bn on brand new data centers at a time when many enterprises are doing the exact opposite. Executives explained that the new builds are necessary for expansion into new markets like the UK. The news shows that data sovereignty — a key driver of edge computing in general — is shaping up to be a big driver of regional infrastructure builds, especially for financial institutions.
Verizon, AWS add some SaaS to the edge as zone count rises
Verizon and AWS have opened up four new edge zones for the AWs Wavelength service to kick off 2022, but perhaps more importantly, the companies are adding data base and data streaming services that will help make the edge more useful for developers. Verizon and AWS have opened up four new edge zones in Los Angeles, Detroit, Minneapolis, and Charlotte, North Carolina. That brings the number of edge nodes the carrier and hyperscaler operate together to seventeen.
To core or not: Microsoft updates market on AT&T network cloud acquisition
AT&T’s decision to sell its 5G Network Cloud software last summer caused some head-scratching in the industry especially when AT&T insisted the sale did not mean it was outsourcing its 5G network to Microsoft, which was what most thought was happening. Six months plus later Microsoft’s VP of 5G strategy has given us an update in the form of a blog post on the acquisition and what it means for both companies. The blog begins by going through the history of Network Cloud.
Pulsant fleshes out edge strategy with Manchester data center purchase
UK service provider Pulsant has acquired a data center in Manchester as part of its edge strategy. The hosting and colocation provider has several regional data centers in the UK and the latest was acquired from Manchester hoster M247. The facility is not a large one at 1MW (although Pulsant says it will upgrade the facility) but the deal includes M247’s site staff and some 40 customers. M247 will continue to use the facility to provide connectivity and cloud-based services to its end users.
Lenovo-powered edge server system promises low power, high-density module with new cooling technologies
San Diego-based Dalrada said it has teamed up with Lenovo and Iceotope to offer a data center solution aimed at edge deployments. The combined solution offers high power density with substantially reduced power requirements, making it suitable for containerized data centers and other edge deployment configurations. The three parties are aiming the product at AI and other edge computing applications.
Hailo targets edge AI for auto industry with NXP partnership
AI chip specialist Hailo is teaming up with NXP Semiconductors to launch joint AI products for the automotive market. The two will make a variety of Electronic Control Units (ECUs) which will combine NXP’s automotive processors (S32G and Layerscape) along with Hailo’s Hailo-8 AI processor.
Lenovo’s new edge AI server tapped for telco, Smart City 5G applications
Lenovo is expanding its ThinkEdge product line with a GPU server called ThinkEdge SE450. The new server is compact, ruggedized and designed for space-constrained edge locations that simultaneously require the processing power needed to run AI workloads. Lenovo already has a customer for this new hardware in the form of Etisalat, the Gulf carrier.
Deutsche Telekom talks cloud-native at the edge with Kubernetes build
Deutsche Telekom is using containers to support its move to 5G and roll out applications to the edge. The company said it has built out a Kubernetes-as-a-Service platform with WeaveWorks and says it is shifting its 5G core and network edge to a cloud-native environment. DT which invested in GitOps specialist WeaveWorks in 2020. The move is a significant one given how legacy hardware suppliers like Cisco, Nokia Ericsson and Huawei dominate the infrastructure of big carriers like DT.
MIT researchers introduce approach to biometrics, ML on low-resource devices
Two research groups at MIT have discovered a way of reducing memory usage of machine learning algorithms on edge devices that use microcontroller units (MCUs). Scientists said devices such as wearable and mobile phones could better monitor health conditions, while vision systems on smart robots and other devices could perform tasks such as human identification using inexpensive sensors.
MIT researchers enable local compute on edge devices using MCUs
Two research groups at MIT have discovered a way of reducing memory usage on edge devices using microcontroller units (MCUs). This could open the door to AI tasks such as human identification being run on a greater number of inexpensive devices rather than handed off to a remote server or public cloud, opening up a whole new range of edge use cases.
NASDAQ to use AWS Outposts as ‘edge’ is brought into core data center
Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman was on center stage during AWS’ CEO keynote at Amazon’s re:Invent conference last week. The big news: the exchange is going to use AWS Outposts “to bring the edge” to their colocation site, giving AWS a footprint inside Nasdaq that it didn’t previously have. Nasdaq will integrate AWS Outposts into its core network and the two companies are going to work on a joint product.
AWS: new servers and storage products for the edge at re:Invent 2021
AWS recently held its re:Invent customer conference, where as usual it made a flurry of product announcements. The company’s Private 5G announcement sparked a lot of conversation, but some other new edge and IoT releases it made were also noteworthy. First up, AWS is introducing a smaller version of its ‘cloud-in-a-box’ product, Outposts.
IoTech deepens Google Cloud ties
IoT software provider IoTech is expanding its partnership with Google to help enable manufacturers, building operators and other IoT users to run edge-cloud solutions at scale. IoTech focuses on one of the IoT’s biggest and least discussed issues — the problem of southbound connection to devices in the field. While a northbound connection into the cloud is typically REST or MQTT, there are a huge number of different communications protocols out to devices in the field.
AT&T launches Azure Edge Zone in Atlanta
AT&T and Microsoft have gone live with an Azure Edge Zone in Atlanta. The idea is to match AT&T’S 5G network edge capabilities to a local version of Microsoft’s cloud, run out of one of AT&T’s Atlanta data centers. The new Edge Zone is currently only in what the companies call ‘private view’, but the partners said they have also conducted a successful proof of concept in Los Angeles with Dallas and other large conurbations will follow shortly.
UK has Nvidia in armbar, pauses ARM acquisition
Nvidia’s plans to buy UK chip-designer ARM have run into trouble after the UK government has asked the Competition and Markets Authority to take an in-depth look at the deal. The deal is controversial because the chip designer has taken a neutral position in the industry historically, offering ‘any core for any buyer’ while the proposed deal would mean ARM would end up in the hands of one of its customers.
VMware sees convergence of 5G edge and SD-WAN
VMWare sees a great opportunity for the convergence of SD-WAN and 5G at the edge, and in a revealing blog post, executives outlined the thinking and talked about some new use cases they believe will come about through this meeting of the twain. The blog starts with something of a confession about the success of SD-WAN’s success—or lack of it. “For CSPs (carriers) SD-WAN has been a mixed bag. It doesn’t replace MPLS but has capped its growth,” the authors wrote.
Amazon to add thousands of satellites as LEO becomes focus of edge connectivity
Amazon’s plans to build an internet in the sky seem to have become even more ambitious. The company’s Kuiper Systems unit was planning to launch over three thousand satellites but recently filed a request with the Federal Communications Commission to put 7,774 in orbit. Amazon and its AWS cloud services unit have certainly been increasing their focus on the low earth orbit (LEO) market in 2021.
Rakuten Symphony marks independence with edge products launch, more executive hires
Rakuten Symphony, newly hived off from its parent Rakuten, has given the market an indication of future strategy by announcing plans to develop an edge device in tandem with Juniper and Intel. The portable hardware, dubbed Symware by the trio, is aimed at simplifying 5G cell deployments. It will tackle one of the major problems associated with disaggregated Open RAN deployments, such as how to provide consistent routing across different physical and virtual architectures. Symware equipment.
Nissan trials traffic warning technology with Verizon, AWS and edge computing
Communication between vehicles and the environment around them, or C-V2X, as it is known, is one of the most talked-about use cases in autonomous driving, and in edge computing in general. The concept has moved one step closer to reality when Nissan Verizon Edge and AWS completed a C-V2X Proof of Concept in Costa County New Jersey. The trials tested a variety of situations using cars and pedestrians as well as various sensor configurations to create a multi-viewpoint picture of potential hazards.
Atos signs up to Catena-X, the EMEA automotive cloud initiative for data
Systems integrator Atos has signed up to the European industry cloud initiative, Catena-X. With Catena-X, European manufacturers and carmakers have joined forces to create a secure network that will enable data transfer between manufacturers, their supply chain and their partner networks. Catena-X is based on a bigger European initiative called GAIA-X, of which Atos is also a member. Both efforts aim to use a collaborative approach to solving problems with a selected set of technologies.
Red Hat refines edge portfolio with OpenShift updates
IBM’s Red Hat put out some updates to its OpenShift platform that are primarily aimed at customers wanting to deploy containers in edge and remote locations. OpenShift 4.9 introduces single-node OpenShift, which puts worker and control capabilities into one server.
VMware unveils updated edge portfolio, including Edge Compute Stack
VMware used the occasion of its VMworld event to update customers and partners on its strategy for multi-cloud and edge computing. Regarding the latter, the company announced VMware Edge, which is a portfolio of services. Some are new, like VMware Edge Compute Stack (Edge Stack, which is a purpose-built virtual machine (VM) and container stack.
Eutelsat ups stake in OneWeb as LEO satellite market heats up
European satellite operator Eutelsat has increased its investment in Low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite operator OneWeb. Following OneWeb’s restructuring last year, Eutelsat invested $550mn in the operator. Eutelsat was facing a dilution of its holding in OneWeb, after stakeholder Bharti Global exercised an option to double its investment to $1bn this summer. That would have diluted Eutelsat down to 19% of outstanding shares and given Bharti nearly 40% of the company’s shares.
Nokia and O-RAN Alliance are A-OK, reaffirm relationship on next-gen wireless
A few weeks after Nokia paused its contributions to the O-RAN Alliance, a standards group playing a key role in the rollout of 5G, it seems to have come back into the fold. At least, the two seem to be keen to work out a compromise to carry on working together. Nokia withdrew after three O-RAN Chinese members were added to the US’s entity list which prohibits U.S. companies and companies wishing to do business in the U.S. from undertaking commercial dealings with listed entities.
AT&T launches 5G-enabled IoT, inks connected car deal with GM
After a raft of announcements from rival wireless providers, AT&T has chimed in with two interesting edge and 5G moves of its own. Firstly, it’s teaming up with Cisco and opening up the sub-6GHz 5G frequency to customers of its Control Center IoT cloud management platform. This will result in 5G speeds for IoT services.
Nokia pauses O-RAN Alliance contribution, citing concerns over blacklisted Chinese members
Nokia has confirmed media reports that it is temporarily suspending its contributions to the O-RAN Alliance after a couple of other participants were blacklisted by the U.S. Government. The O-RAN Alliance is the main industry group developing Open Radio Access Network standards, a concept that will loosen the grip of proprietary vendors at the edge of the 5G network.
Verizon goes live with 5G-enabled Azure Edge Stack, cites customer win
Verizon has gone live with its product that combines Verizon 5G Edge and Microsoft’s Azure Edge Stack to create a private 5G package for enterprise. The two announced they were working on a joint offering late last year and it is now in general availability. The idea is to integrate Verizon’s on-site 5G Edge network with Azure edge services, enabling ultra-low latency/high-performance local compute resources.
Azion teams up with Radware to block bots at network edge
‘Next-generation’ CDN service provider Azion is teaming up with security vendor Radware to help its customers detect and block malicious internet based attacks. Under the deal, Radware will embed its equipment in Azion’s infrastructure and Azion’s customers will be able to access Radware’s Bot Manager.
Haier’s GE Appliances teams up with Google Cloud for next-gen smart home gizmos
GE Appliances has signed a partnership with Google to help it build the next generation of fridges, dishwashers and other domestic appliances. The move shows how traditional durable goods companies are continuing to try and build new services off their products. GEA will use Google Cloud AI to enhance its AI-enabled intelligent product platform, which will deliver the owners of GEA’s home appliances insights, energy saving tips and personalized features.
Nvidia’s purchase of ARM could be blocked by UK: Supply chain nationalism on the rise or just a temporary kink?
Nvidia’s plans to purchase UK-headquartered ARM for $40bn seem to be under threat. The deal was referred to the UK competition authorities by the UK government in April, and media reports are now saying that the deal is likely to be blocked. Even as regulatory decisions go, such a decision seems a little perverse given the chip designer was bought by a Japanese investment fund only four years ago without any difficulties. Why is US ownership more problematic than Japanese?
SpaceX enters the IoT connectivity market with Swarm acquisition
The IoT market has a new entrant with SpaceX’s purchase of satellite provider Swarm Technologies. Swarm targets the IoT connectivity market and its acquisition comes as Elon Musk works on ambitious plans to deliver consumer broadband via a network of low earth satellites. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Swarm’s service launched in February 2021 with 81 low orbit satellites in service.
CDN second-quarter earnings wrap: who has an edge in serverless growth?
It’s time for earnings reports again, and a look at the results from the major content delivery networks is offering a sense of how the market for edge computing services is developing. Here is a wrap of Cloudflare, Akamai, Fastly and Limelight’s numbers: Cloudflare had a strong quarter with a 53% rise year on year to $152M in revenues.
Samsung adds edge compute to its Smart Home devices
Samsung has launched a new product architecture called SmartThings Edge which will add compute functionality to IoT devices in the SmartThings home suite and make them…smarter. The new architecture eliminates the need for off-site cloud processing and instead brings data to a SmartThings Hub and executes core functions locally. That means users can run automations and other tasks with lower latency and increased reliability compared to the older cloud-based architecture.
Edge, HPC system provider Source Code acquired by Cerberus
Bespoke server and device maker Source Code Holdings is being acquired by Cerberus Capital Management. Source Code is best known for making high-performance computing and artificial intelligence hardware, but it also makes edge devices. It specializes in equipment for industrial and or building automation and other rugged environments. Its hardware is often tailored for specific circumstances and Source Code says it has over a million edge devices delivered.
PlasticARM bends, doesn’t break: ARM’s 32-bit plastic chip for edge and IoT
UK chip-designer ARM demonstrated a prototype chip this week called PlasticARM. Unlike the silicon chips we are used to, the new chip can fit to curved or uneven surfaces. The product is fairly basic for now—the program code can’t be changed or updated after fabrication—but ARM argues it can be mass-produced at low cost, giving it potential for IoT and other edge deployments.
AT&T Clouds Up Microsoft Deal: “We are not outsourcing our core network function”
When AT&T announced recently that Microsoft was buying its 5G Network Cloud core software and moving it to Microsoft’s cloud, there were a few in the tech press who concluded that AT&T was throwing in the towel and admitting it did not have the scale or resources to compete with the hyperscale cloud providers. Now in a plot twist, Jeff McElfresh, AT&T Communication’s CEO has used his company’s second-quarter 2021 earnings call to say more or less the opposite.
Google Cloud, Ericsson talk up partnership, pilots for unified 5G network, edge apps
Google Cloud and Ericsson are expanding their partnership with the two announcing that they are running a pilot program with Telecom Italia aimed at carmakers and other manufacturers. The project will automate the functions of Telecom Italia’s 5G core network and cloud-based applications, with a view bringing connectivity close to companies’ physical locations. Additionally, the two announced they are developing new solutions at Ericsson’s Silicon Valley Lab.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Daniel
Contact Daniel, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack