Spectro Cloud Aims To Simplify Managing Cloud Native Edge Infrastructure

Cloud Spectro Cloud Aims To Simplify Managing Cloud Native Edge Infrastructure Janakiram MSV Senior Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. I cover Cloud Computing, Machine Learning, and Internet of Things Following New! Follow this author to stay notified about their latest stories. Got it! Oct 2, 2022, 07:50pm EDT | New! Click on the conversation bubble to join the conversation Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Spectro Cloud , the Bay Area-based modern infrastructure startup, announced a new platform that promises simplified onboarding and management of edge computing devices running Kubernetes.

Network Mesh PIXABAY In March, I covered Spectro Cloud’s Palette Edge – a platform to extend the power of managed Kubernetes to the edge. Last week’s announcement enhanced Palette Edge through a new workflow to onboard edge devices, an open source OS optimized for the edge, and a NOC-style portal to visualize and manage edge clusters running Kubernetes. Spectro Cloud built a distribution branded as Palette eXtended Kubernetes Edge (PXK-E) based on the upstream Kubernetes distribution maintained by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF).

PXK-E turns the edge into an immutable and tamperproof environment, enhancing security. It follows the security standards based on NIST-800 security hardening. The immutability part of PXK-E is not only interesting but one of the first in the industry.

Immutable infrastructure is the foundation of modern cloud computing, where the configuration cannot be modified once deployed. DevOps engineers consider it one of the best practices to maintain a repeatable, consistent, predictable, and stable configuration. In the context of Kubernetes, immutability refers to the configuration and state of the cluster and workloads, which cannot be modified without rolling out a new definition tested for stability.

PXK-E’s immutability is based on Kairos , an open source meta operating system that can install and manage mainstream Linux and Kubernetes distributions through a declarative approach. Any change made to the OS or Kubernetes will be stored in a staged disk partition that gets applied during the following reboot process. In case of a failure, it is easy to rollback the system to the last known good configuration.

This model was initially introduced by CoreOS, which is now a part of Red Hat. Unlike CoreOS, Kairos extends the immutability feature to any Linux operating system, including Ubuntu, Alpine, and openSUSE. MORE FOR YOU Western Digital’s Journey To Build Business Resiliency Through Cloud And ERP Transformation Amazon Climate Pledge: Two Years In And Going Strong Microsoft Takes First Steps To Finally Kill The Password Palette Edge, the edge management plane from Spectro Cloud, can bootstrap edge clusters running diverse Linux and Kubernetes distributions.

Though PXK-E is the default distribution for the edge from Spectro Cloud, the platform supports mainstream distributions such as upstream Kubernetes, K3s and RKE2 that are curated and verified to run at the edge. Spectro Cloud has also invested in a NOC-like dashboard that helps DevOps engineers to visualize and manage the fleet of distributed edge clusters and devices running in different geographies. This tool delivers an efficient mechanism for accessing and troubleshooting edge clusters irrespective of their location.

Unlike a enterprise data center that is managed by qualified and certified engineers, edge devices are deployed in environments where there are no IT or support engineers. Spectro Cloud has introduced a QR-code-based boot process that guides non-technical users in setting up edge computing environments to simplify onboarding and bootstrapping new devices. Spectro Cloud is squarely focused on solving enterprises’ real pain points in deploying and managing Kubernetes-based edge computing environments.

The Palette for Edge, PXK-E, Kairos, and the new NOC offerings are unique approaches to dealing with the complexity of managing edge infrastructure. Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn . Check out my website .

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