Edge Environment

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An Edge Environment is an Infrastructure Environment located near a source or consumer of data, an operational process, a physical location, or another subject for which local computing provides an architectural benefit.

An Edge Environment may operate near:

• Sensors
• Industrial equipment
• Vehicles
• Communication infrastructure
• Users
• Facilities
• Data sources
• Operational processes
• Remote locations

An Edge Environment may have:

• Limited computing capacity
• Limited storage capacity
• Limited network bandwidth
• Intermittent connectivity
• Restricted external connectivity
• Location-specific security controls
• Local operational authority
• Low-latency processing requirements
• Environmental or physical constraints

An Edge Environment differs from a central Infrastructure Environment:

• An Edge Environment places computing capability near a relevant data source, consumer, process, or physical location
• A central Infrastructure Environment consolidates computing capability within a centralized facility or service

An Edge Environment differs from an Air-Gapped Environment:

• An Edge Environment is distinguished by its location and operational relationship to another subject
• An Air-Gapped Environment is distinguished by controlled network isolation

An Edge Environment may be connected, disconnected, or air-gapped.

infrastructure environment located near a source or consumer of data, an operational process, a physical location, or another subject for which local computing provides an architectural benefit

Dido Solutions, Inc. and Jackrabbit Consulting, Inc.

An Edge Environment does not by itself establish:

• Disconnected operation
• Network isolation
• Limited resource capacity
• A particular physical distance
• A particular device class
• A particular provider
• A particular deployment technology
• A particular security classification

The applicable architecture identifies the reason the environment qualifies as an Edge Environment.

An Infrastructure Environment located within a manufacturing facility processes equipment telemetry locally to reduce latency and continued dependence on a remote cloud service.