ACK Edge is a cloud-edge integrated hosting solution for edge computing scenarios. This topic describes the background and key features of ACK Edge.
Product introduction
ACK Edge cluster is a cloud-hosted, highly-available, standard Kubernetes cluster for edge computing. It extends cloud capabilities to the edge—addressing the low latency, capacity, and local compute needs that centralized cloud computing alone cannot meet—while keeping operations and governance centralized in the cloud.
The cluster integrates virtualization, storage, networking, and security, and ACK manages the cluster infrastructure so you can focus on your containerized applications. ACK Edge cluster provides the following capabilities:
On-premises resource onboarding: Connect data center resources for cloud-native container management.
GPU and AI workload support: Connect heterogeneous GPU devices and integrate cloud-native AI suites to improve the development, scheduling, and runtime efficiency of AI tasks.
Cloud elasticity: When on-premises data center resources are insufficient, add cloud-based CPU and GPU compute, with hybrid scheduling across cloud and on-premises environments.
Edge resource connectivity: Connect edge computing resources, including CDN nodes, IoT gateways, and terminal devices.
Distributed cloud-native infrastructure: Build cloud-managed infrastructure that spans cloud, on-premises data centers, and edge resources.
ACK Edge cluster extends Kubernetes non-intrusively, adding edge autonomy, edge unit management, edge traffic management, and native O&M API support to unify application lifecycle management and resource scheduling across edge environments.
Applicable scenarios include on-premises data center resource containerization, heterogeneous GPU resource management, edge intelligence, smart buildings, smart factories, live streaming, online education, and CDN.
Features
ACK Edge clusters support full lifecycle management of containerized applications and resources across edge environments:
Create and manage highly available clusters: Create ACK Edge clusters from the console with built-in support for scaling, Kubernetes version upgrades, logging, and monitoring.
Connect heterogeneous edge nodes: Attach on-premises data center resources, IoT devices, x86-based devices, and Arm-based devices to your cluster, with support for hybrid scheduling of heterogeneous resource.
Run reliably over weak network connections: Node autonomy and network autonomy ensure highly reliable operation of edge nodes and workloads when cloud connectivity is degraded or intermittent.
Remotely operate and maintain edge nodes: Manage and maintain edge nodes remotely through reverse O&M tunnels.
Manage deployments by unit: Manage edge units, deploy applications per unit, and control traffic routing at the unit level.