Azure Edge Zones Hit Preview -- Redmondmag.com

Azure Edge Zones Hit Preview

By David Ramel
04/02/2020

Azure Edge Zones, a new edge computing technology from Microsoft designed to enable new scenarios for developers and partners, emerged as a preview release this week.

Microsoft's documentation describes Azure Edge Zones as "a family of offerings from Microsoft Azure that enables data processing close to the user. You can deploy VMs, containers, and other select Azure services into Edge Zones to address the low latency and high throughput requirements of applications."

In its preview form, Azure Edge Zones combines the capabilities of Azure, 5G, mobile carriers and technology partners to enable those new scenarios, allowing for:

New frontiers for developers working with high-density graphics and real-time operations in industries such as gaming and mobile platforms.
Local data processing for secure workloads, latency-sensitive data analytics, Internet of Things (IoT) and media services.
Real-time IoT and artificial intelligence (AI) analytics for optimizing, building and innovating for robotics, mixed reality and automation tools.

Azure Edge Zones actually comes in three different offerings. Azure Edge Zones are small-footprint extensions of Azure located in population centers distant from Azure regions. Azure Edge Zones with Carrier are located in mobile operators' datacenters in population centers. Azure Private Edge Zones are located on-premises.

One use case scenario sees developers building optimized and scalable applications using Azure and directly connecting to 5G networks by building upon previously announced integration with AT&T to enable next-generation solutions on the edge, leveraging consistent Azure APIs and tooling in the public cloud.

"We were the first public cloud to announce 5G integration with AT&T in Dallas in 2019, and now we're announcing a close collaboration with AT&T on a new Edge Zone targeted to become available in Los Angeles in late spring," said Azure Networking exec Yousef Khalidi in a March 31 blog post.

The first edge zones will be available in June, Microsoft said.

Anyone wishing to join the Azure Private Edge Zone preview can go here.

About the Author

David Ramel is an editor and writer at Converge 360.

Featured

Using Configuration Files to Control PowerShell Scripts, Part 2: Building Blocks

Learn how to use PowerShell's GUI capabilities to dynamically create configuration files that enhance script flexibility and usability.
U.S. House Leaders Unveil Bipartisan Strategy for AI Governance and Innovation

On Tuesday, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson and Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries received the final report from the bipartisan House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence, which outlines essential principles and recommendations to bolster American leadership in AI.
Using Configuration Files to Control PowerShell Scripts, Part 1: The Basics

Learn how to use JSON configuration files to make PowerShell scripts more dynamic, flexible and user-friendly.
Exchange Online Receiving Enhanced Message Trace

Microsoft has announced the public preview of its enhanced Message Trace feature in the Exchange admin center (EAC) for Exchange Online.
Major Microsoft Multifactor Authentication Vulnerability Revealed

A vulnerability in Microsoft’s multifactor authentication (MFA) system has been uncovered by cybersecurity firm Oasis Security, allowing attackers to bypass security measures and access sensitive data across services including Outlook, OneDrive, Teams and Azure.