Stratus unveils edge computing strategy
15 January 2018
With more than 90 percent of industrial companies wanting a simplified edge infrastructure that can be remotely managed, Stratus Technologies unveiled its edge computing product strategy and direction at IOT Tech Expo.
This strategy includes the latest version of Stratus’s flagship product, ftServer, along with a preview of a converged operational technology (OT) edge system, which offers enhanced remote management services in a rugged and easy-to-deploy form factor. Ideal for users in industrial automation (IA) or in distributed enterprises deploying IIoT applications, these products ensure continuous availability and remote management of mission-critical edge applications, whether in the data centre, on the plant floor or at the network edge.
By delivering a series of highly available edge compute solutions, Stratus addresses the growing need for more intelligent devices at the edge, as demonstrated by a new worldwide market report by ARC Advisory Group. In that study, 91 percent of IA users surveyed stated having better systems and connectivity at the edge will enable improved real-time decision making. Yet, more than 90 percent also indicated that, as edge computing grows, organisations will need a simplified edge infrastructure that can be remotely managed. To address this, Stratus has released version nine of ftServer, its intelligent, self-monitoring and self-diagnosing edge server. It will also introduce in 2018, a new family of multi-function, converged OT edge systems. The combination of ftServer and the forthcoming OT systems provides a comprehensive selection of edge solutions ideal for customers deploying IA, IIoT or IoT applications. This set of edge solutions and Stratus’s overall vision for edge computing align with the outcomes of the ARC study in which OT end users confirmed that their IIoT deployments will be comprised of a mix of edge and cloud-based technologies. In fact, approximately 60 percent of survey respondents said they plan to take a hybrid approach by balancing future investments in the edge with smaller investments in the cloud.
Key messages:
• Stratus’s edge solutions begin with ftServer, the ideal system for digital transformation initiatives at the edge. An intelligent, self-monitoring, self-diagnosing, self-healing computer system, ftServer is best suited for hybrid deployments or customers within process manufacturing, where fault tolerance is business-critical. The latest version of ftServer brings VMware support along with better performance, enhanced availability, and improved manageability. These improvements help customers and partners accelerate time to value, maximise revenues, and increase efficiency. Stratus’s new converged edge solution, which can be deployed alone or in concert with ftServer, is currently being tested with key customers and partners, and is available for demonstration.
• According the ARC Market Report, edge computing is real and growing. As more data-intensive compute workloads are pushed to the edge, real-time remote management and a simplified edge infrastructure are crucial for success, due to limited edge resources and skills sets.
Dave Laurello, CEO at Stratus said “the more automated and connected applications become, the more critical it is for customers to have a highly reliable, continuously available and operationally simple edge infrastructure to drive true IIoT business value. Plant operators, in particular, don’t want to adopt, implement and manage complicated edge technology that requires specific expertise or talent. The more self-managed the infrastructure, the more desirable it is, reducing the need for dedicated resources at each plant. We listened to the needs of our IA and IIoT customers and partners across both discrete as well as continuous process manufacturing, and that’s exactly what we are delivering.”
Craig Resnick, analyst and vice president, ARC Advisory Group, comments “operational issues such as improving asset performance management to improve both production as well as reduce unplanned downtime will drive end users to deploy edge computing. And, the companies who are quick to take advantage of self-managed, edge computing infrastructures will be better able to unlock the data that has long been stranded inside machines and processes. They’ll also be better able to quickly identify production inefficiencies, compare product quality against manufacturing conditions, and pinpoint potential safety, production, or environmental issues. Remotely managing this edge infrastructure will immediately connect operators with off-site experts to more quickly resolve, or better yet avoid, downtime events. The benefit is freeing operations people and IT staff to perform their respective roles versus distracting them from their fields of expertise.”
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