Executive Summary
Edge computing is redefining the internet infrastructure. In an era where latency is the new downtime, consumers and businesses demand immediate insights and real-time processing. Enterprise technology leaders are shifting workloads to the edge to minimize latency, ensure data sovereignty, and maintain operations even in bandwidth-constrained environments.
However, the operational reality of the edge is brutal. Setting up, updating, and managing hundreds or thousands of distributed clusters across remote locations—often with limited connectivity—is complex, resource-intensive, and error-prone. Without the right automation, “Day 2” operations can become a bottleneck that stalls innovation.
The Solution
The Kubermatic Edge Computing Accelerator is designed to fast-track your journey to a production-grade edge infrastructure. By leveraging the Kubermatic Kubernetes Platform (KKP), we automate the lifecycle management of thousands of Kubernetes clusters across any infrastructure—from heavy industrial hardware to lightweight ARM devices.
Our solution creates a unified control plane that decouples the management layer from the workload layer, ensuring:
- Centralized Management: Manage thousands of remote clusters from a single pane of glass.
- Unmatched Density: Our “Kubernetes-in-Kubernetes” architecture drastically reduces the overhead required for control planes, allowing you to run more workloads on smaller devices.
- Resilience: Automated self-healing and independent control planes ensure your edge sites keep running even if the connection to the central management is lost.
Engagement Structure
The Accelerator is a comprehensive, hands-on engagement divided into six phases, designed to take you from concept to a validated, production-ready edge architecture in roughly 4 weeks.
Phase 1: Explore
Our architects engage deeply with your team to review your specific edge use case (e.g., IoT gateway, retail branch, factory floor) and align your requirements with the technical capabilities of KKP.
Typical Activities
- Kickoff workshop to define business goals and technical constraints.
- Review of existing infrastructure (hardware, network topology).
- Assessment of timeline and resource availability.
Deliverables
- Comprehensive list of requirements (PoC & Production).
- Documentation of PoC scope, success criteria, and implementation roadmap.
Phase 2: Design
We co-create an architecture tailored to your edge environment. This phase focuses on solving the unique challenges of your setup, such as air-gapped requirements, limited bandwidth, or specific hardware constraints (ARM/x86).
Typical Activities
- Definition of the architectural design and hosting model (e.g., centralized Master in cloud vs. distributed).
- Selection of components for the edge stack (OS, CRI, CNI, CSI).
- Advising on best practices for microservices decoupling and high availability at the edge.
Deliverables
- High-level Architecture Design Document (ADD).
- Hosting model recommendation.
- Integration development checklist.
Phase 3: Deploy
Our architects work alongside your team (on-site or remote) to deploy the Kubermatic Kubernetes Platform and establish your first edge clusters.
Typical Activities
- Installation of the Kubermatic Kubernetes Platform (Seed and Master clusters).
- Configuration of Kubermatic KubeOne for underlying infrastructure provisioning.
- Integration with existing identity providers (OIDC) and storage solutions.
Deliverables
- Fully functional Kubermatic Kubernetes Platform setup.
- Configuration documentation (Infrastructure as Code).
- Deployment of initial edge user clusters.
Phase 4: Enablement
We hand over the keys and the knowledge. This phase focuses on upskilling your operations team to manage the platform independently using Kubermatic’s automation features.
Typical Activities
- Workshops on “Day 2” operational tasks: Upgrades, Backup/Restore, Logging, and Monitoring.
- Training on managing edge-specific constraints (e.g., disconnection handling).
- Guidance on using KubeVirt for legacy VM management alongside containers (if applicable).
Deliverables
- Cluster configuration definitions (Declarative specs).
- Operational runbooks and concept papers for long-term vision.
Phase 5: Testing
We rigorously test the setup against the success criteria defined in Phase 1 to ensure the solution is robust and production-ready.
Typical Activities
- Execution of functional testing (cluster creation, scaling, self-healing).
- Chaos Engineering: Simulating network failures and node outages to test resilience.
- Review of resource utilization (CPU/RAM) on edge nodes to ensure efficiency.
Deliverables
- Test execution report.
- Performance and capacity assessment.
- Validated “Gold Standard” configuration for rollout.
Phase 6: Touchdown
We review the engagement, present the final results to stakeholders, and outline the path to mass rollout.
Typical Activities
- Touchdown workshop with executive presentation.
- Retrospective on the PoC.
- Identification of prerequisites for full-scale production rollout.
Deliverables
- Final Project Report.
- Production Go-Live Checklist.
Duration
20.5 days
Prerequisites
- Infrastructure access (Cloud credentials or Bare Metal access) provided.
- Base networking (DNS, Load Balancers, Firewall rules) prepared.
- KubeOne is installed and running on the infrastructure which is used for this Accelerator.
Enterprise Subscription
This Accelerator includes a Kubermatic Kubernetes Platform Enterprise Subscription for the duration of the engagement. The following details apply:
- 2 months temporary development license.
- 125 vCPU