Sign of more open-source edge to come from Equinix as it joins LF Edge
Honoring a year since launch, LF Edge has welcomed data center and colocation company Equinix as a Premier Member to provide expertise and collaborate on open-source projects related to networking compute and storage resources, and Equinix CTO Justin Dustzadeh to LF Edge Governing Board, the consortium announced.
Equnix has joined a community of more than 70 members, including Altran, Arm, AT&T, Baidu, Charter Communications, Dell EMC, Juniper Networks, Qualcomm Technologies and Tencent.
Initiated by the Linux Foundation, LF Edge is focused on developing an open, interoperable framework for edge computing independent of hardware, silicon, cloud, or operating systems.
Arpit Joshipura, general manager, Networking, Automation, Edge & IoT, the Linux Foundation said “Their (Equinix’) expertise in data center and interconnection services will be especially valuable as operators need to move resources even closer to the edge with the roll out of 5G. We are excited to collaborate with Equinix as we build a stronger platform for innovation at the edge.”
In just a year, LF Edge has put forward seven projects focused on developing a software stack for non-traditional video and connected things that require lower latency and faster processing and mobility. The projects include Akraino Edge Stack, Baetyl, Fledge, EdgeX Foundry, Home Edge, Open Glossary of Edge Computing and Project EVE.
“Equinix is pleased to join LF Edge to collaborate with the community on developing open, cloud-neutral frameworks for edge computing including its ever-increasing use cases and diverse set of requirements across the technology stack,” said Justin Dustzadeh, chief technology officer, Equinix, in a prepared statement. “We believe the role we play in delivering neutral, secure, richly-connected and cloud-adjacent digital infrastructure at the edge, leveraging virtualization, software-defined and cloud-native technologies, will provide valuable insights to the LF Edge organization.”
Moving from real estate to software?
Joining a software development effort is another interesting turn of events at Equinix. The company has over 200 International Business Exchange data centers across over 50 markets on five continents. Equinix provides solutions for 10,000 global customers, including Fortune 500 enterprises and Global 2000 companies. By joining LF Edge, it will join a community focused on developing open, multinetwork, multicloud and distributed edge capabilities for interconnection ecosystems.
The move also comes shortly after Equinix acquired Packet, a provider of bare metal automation technology and infrastructure services. The deal will provide Equinix with technology and expertise in rapidly deploying hybrid cloud and edge compute for customers.
Equinix CEO Charles Meyers told Wall Street analysts on the company’s Q4 2019 earnings call that in the near term, the Packet acquisition is intended “to accelerate our strategy to help enterprises quickly and seamlessly deploy hybrid multi-cloud architectures on Platform Equinix.”
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