HostColor: Edge Bare-Metal or Edge Cloud for Fast Content Delivery

In the 2000s, the focus of discussions on how to efficiently host business infrastructure was on the automation of virtual environments and physical servers. In the 2010s, there was a shift in focus to cloud computing infrastructures and distributed computing. Currently, in the 2020s, businesses are focusing on edge infrastructure, which can be hosted on either bare-metal servers or virtualized server instances, also known as the cloud.

In the context of designing and using technology infrastructure, one of the key arguments for the cloud has always been the potential for increased "business agility." This concept has been a recurring theme among a wide range of stakeholders, including CEOs, CTOs, CIOs, and even individuals involved in the creation of technology-related content. When it comes to technology infrastructure, the cloud has been touted as the most agile computing solution ever. There are several arguments in support of this claim.

One of the key benefits of cloud computing is native scalability, which allows users to scale up and down their infrastructure and operations in real time. Another key advantage is the virtually unlimited amount of data storage space and the wide variety of storage models and solutions available to users of cloud services. Among the other benefits of the cloud, the major hyperscalers—AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and others—allow an organization to virtually run and dynamically manage its IT infrastructure based on its customer demand. The so-called "cloud-native" model of software architecture allows developers and organizations to build dynamically scalable applications that distribute workloads across thousands of virtual environments, each serving a specific application or technology world.

It is at this point that the advantages provided by the major hyperscalers begin to diminish. The Big Clouds utilize a centralized approach to IT infrastructure, distributed across no more than 20 to 30 data centers worldwide. They lack edge hosting infrastructure. In comparison to traditional local data centers and small- and medium-sized edge hosting providers, large hyperscalers have slower content delivery times, higher costs, and network policies that often result in increased recurring monthly costs for their customers.

One example of this is the large cloud's network policy of charging customers different rates for outbound internet traffic based on geolocation zones at its discretion. In general, the cloud service policies of the major hyperscalers are so complex that they are challenging to adopt. Enterprises that use them not only have difficulty hosting their applications at the edge, close to the application users, but they also face significant costs for inbound and outbound traffic, with limited control over network routes and data delivery latency.

What are the alternatives to the Big Clouds?

Mid-sized edge infrastructure providers, such as HostColor.com (HC), offer a solid alternative to the large hyperscalers. HostColor is a managed edge infrastructure provider that operates a global application delivery platform at the edge and offers dedicated cloud hosting services from over 100 edge data center locations worldwide. Companies like HC have the ability to customize the hosted infrastructure for their customers while also applying flexible service terms wherever possible.

It is also important to note that mid-sized edge infrastructure providers can guarantee that their customers have complete privacy regarding hosted data. For example, unlike the extensive data retention policies of large hyperscalers, HostColor treats its customers' data as their exclusive property, ensuring that it is not accessible or shareable with third parties.

Edge Bare-Metal Servers and Edge Cloud

There are two main categories of technology infrastructure hosted at the edge—Edge Bare-Metal Servers and Edge Cloud.

Edge Bare Metal Servers are a 100% physical computing infrastructure without a virtualization layer or an interconnected cluster of servers that may or may not use virtualization. In an edge bare metal infrastructure, the operating system (OS) is installed directly on the physical servers, not on a virtualization layer. This is why it is called "Bare Metal." When a physical server utilizes virtualization technology for partitioning purposes, it is classified as a single-tenant infrastructure environment. Such single-tenant bare-metal servers are also called "dedicated." While it is possible to scale the computing memory (RAM) and data storage capacity to some extent, this requires shutting down the system to perform the necessary upgrade. A redundant array of independent disks (RAID) is used to protect the data used by the applications from failure.

Edge Cloud is a virtualized infrastructure solution that employs a clustered networking model of interconnected bare-metal servers, which function as a unified group. The cloud servers that reside on this infrastructure utilize either network-attached storage or hyper-converged storage. In both cases, the data used by the applications is safeguarded against failure.

The distinguishing feature of both Edge Bare-Metal and Edge Cloud infrastructure models is that the technology infrastructure is hosted locally, either inside or in close proximity (at the edge) to the local metropolitan markets. From a networking perspective, a hosted IT infrastructure is considered "at the edge" if the latency from users to application servers does not exceed 5 milliseconds (ms). Edge providers typically offer 1 ms to 3 ms latency, which allows for real-time data processing and application delivery.

Today's applications require not only significant computing power and advanced automation but also instant access and real-time delivery of data content. The demand for instant processing is growing. The big clouds offer advanced automation, but they cannot fill the application delivery gap at the edge. An enterprise infrastructure can be considered technologically reliable if it is fault-tolerant and scalable, but it cannot be considered agile if it does not provide application delivery at the edge.

Technology concepts and trends such as the Internet of Things (IoT), real-time cybersecurity, and all types of AI-based technology services can only function properly if data is hosted and processed at the edge. In the ever-evolving technology industry, where distributed computing systems and distributed computing service delivery models are gaining momentum, one thing is certain—the demand for edge-hosted and edge-delivered application services.