Edge computing has a bright future, even if nobody's sure quite what that looks like

Edge computing is easy to sell but hard to define. More a philosophy than any single architecture, edge and cloud are on a spectrum, with the current cloud service model often dependent on in-browser processing, and even the most edgy deployments reliant on central infrastructure.

Each sector touted as a natural fit for edge – IoT, digital health, manufacturing, energy, logistics – defies the idea of edge as a single discipline.

Edge computing needs scalable, flexible networking. Software defined networking (SDN) has become a focus for future edge developments. SDN's characteristic approach is to divide the task of networking into two tasks of control and data transfer. It has a control plane and a data plane, with the former managing the latter by dynamic reconfiguration based on a combination of rules and monitoring. Various approaches – multiple control planes, increased intelligence in edge switch hardware, dynamic network partitioning on demand, geography and flow control – are under investigation, as are the interactions between security and SDN in edge management.

Because edge architectures are still evolving, the extension of DevOps principles into the infrastructure provides more visibility into how things are working, the adoption of common open-source components and approaches that prove themselves, and the practical advantages of rapid reconfiguration and deployment.

With the "everything as code" approach, which SDN and container management/deployment tools like Kubernetes exemplify, the whole variety of edge architectures from heavily centralized to highly distributed can be managed with the same tools, an important consideration as the technologies mature and take their place in the market. Kubernetes provides a common layer of abstraction on top of physical resources like compute, storage and networking, allowing deployment in a standard way anywhere, including to heterogeneous edge devices across varied infrastructures.

The future of edge computing, more than most technologies growing in importance, depends on everyone in the business. For edge to work, a whole mesh of existing ideas in infrastructure, management, development, monitoring, security and architectural understanding have to explore the options together.

Even without the hype, life at the edge is going to be interesting.