Cisco, Akamai Participate In EdgeMicro Live Testing

EdgeMicro late last week began live testing of edge computing pilot projects in a micro data center adjacent to Flexential’s facility in Denver, the company said.Edge computing is a pivotal element as the cloud and virtualization grow near the real-time requirements that make it impossible to traffic between where data will be used and distant data centers. EdgeMicro says these proof-of-concept tests are the last step before deployment. The company expects to complete the tests by mid-March and rollout the projects by the middle of the year.The companies helping with the testing are “a who’s who of the tech industry,” said Loren Zweig, vice president of operations at EdgeMicro. In addition to EdgeMicro and IT service management firm Flexential, companies involved in the testing are Akamai, StackPath, BitBox, Cisco, Fiber Mountain, and Megaport. Companies undergoing the testing did not want their names released, he said.Zweig reports that edge computing shows signs of going beyond its initial mandate. “When we first announced this test lab, my assumption was that most of the testing would be for data and content caching at the edge, to move content and services closer to consumers in order to reduce latency,” he wrote in an email. “After all, that’s been discussed for a while as a major driver for edge computing. Yes, that is part of what is being tested, but it has been fascinating seeing a lot of the testing focused on unburdening core data centers and creating more redundancy in networks. Edge data centers are going to be about more than just lowering latency. They are going to play a major role in the way that companies design and operate their overall data center infrastructure optimizing traffic flows.”EdgeMicro’s Denver micro data center provides 48kW of uninterruptible power in a 6-server rack configuration. It has dual 100 gig connectivity connections and direct access to nearby fiber installations. It is undergoing SOC 1 and PCI compliance assessments, the company said.