Edge Computing Reference Architecture with Rancher and Linkerd

Edge Computing Reference Architecture with Rancher and Linkerd

With the exponential growth of connected devices, Edge computing is becoming a game changer. Edge computing is a model that processes data near the network edge where data is generated. It addresses the issues of latency, bandwidth and data privacy more effectively than centralized cloud architectures. However, managing and orchestrating applications and services at the Edge is no easy task. Robust, lightweight and reliable tools are needed — a challenge some open source tools are prepared to tackle. By combining Rancher Prime, Buoyant’s Linkerd, RKE2 and K3s, users get a state-of-the-art, highly secure, highly performant solution for unique edge requirements.

Introducing the architecture

Before we get into the “how,” let’s introduce the edge computing stack and examine why these tools work so well together for an edge computing scenario. If you are running Rancher, we recommend combining Rancher Prime, Buoyant’s Linkerd, RKE2 and K3s (for an overview of what each piece does, please refer to the table below).

Security, reliability and observability are all critical concerns for edge computing, and it’s therefore important to choose an architecture that helps, rather than hinders, accomplishing these goals. An effective architecture will be simple to deploy and operate, using technologies in ways that play to their strengths, as described above. With Rancher and Linkerd, we can adopt an extremely simple architecture that nevertheless brings an enormous amount of functionality to the table:

Here, our instruments (on the left of the diagram) are connected to IoT “gateway” systems running Linux. By deploying k3s clusters with Linkerd all the way out on the edge gateways, we can use Linkerd’s secure multicluster capabilities to extend the secure service mesh all the way from the central cluster (shown on the right, running RKE) to the edge gateways themselves.

These tools all integrate seamlessly, providing a secure, reliable, observable edge platform that is lightweight and resource-efficient. Now, let’s explore why we believe these technologies are a perfect match for the edge.

Operational Simplicity

When it comes to Edge computing, operational simplicity is key. Edge environments involve managing numerous devices, often spread across multiple geographical locations, making traditional management methods impractical. Rancher simplifies Kubernetes cluster management with an intuitive user interface and robust API. **Rancher** allows users to manage all their Kubernetes clusters from a single control point, whether in the cloud, data center, or Edge environments. This unified approach simplifies operations and reduces the complexity of managing multiple clusters.

The **Linkerd** service mesh requires minimal configuration and comes with zero-config features such as load balancing, retries, timeouts, and more. With no time-consuming setup, developers have more time to build business logic. That being said, edge devices will require some initial setup work and configuration. Due to their resource limitations, these devices typically require deployment optimization to ensure they run efficiently.

Linkerd Architecture:

The Linkerd architecture is fairly simple. The Linkerd control plane manages Linkerd’s operation; it also has a CLI that the user can use to configure and examine the mesh. Application Pods that are part of the mesh have the ultra-fast, ultra-lightweight Linkerd proxy, purpose-built in Rust, injected into them as a sidecar container. Once the proxy is injected, all application communication goes through the proxy, which manages mTLS, workload authentication and authorization, retries, circuit breaking, metrics collection, and much more. Having these critical features uniformly applied across the entire application at the platform level eliminates the need to change the application itself, meaning that the application developers are free to focus on the business needs of the application rather than on the complexities of the network.

Edge Computing stack:

As Edge computing use cases rapidly expand, the Rancher Prime, Linkerd, RKE2 and K3s toolkit offers a state-of-the-art, highly secure, and highly performant to these unique challenges. It provides organizations and developers with the tools and strategies they need to deliver fast, reliable performance and robust, secure communication between microservices and applications, all while efficiently managing and orchestrating Kubernetes clusters.

Practical use cases showcase how these open source tools synergize to create robust, efficient, and flexible Edge computing solutions. From Retail industry POS systems to remote patient healthcare monitoring, this stack has clear advantages. An easy integration streamlines your Edge computing implementation and enables you to process data at the Edge while ensuring reliable and secure data transfer, reducing latency and providing scalability and flexibility.

As with any implementation, there are some challenges, however. The initial setup and configuration on the edge can be complex. A deep understanding of these tools and Kubernetes is required. If you need help and want to accelerate your time-to-value, the Buoyant and SUSE teams can help. Reach out, and let’s chat!

Contact the Buoyant team and the SUSE team.

To sum it up, combining Rancher Prime, Linkerd, RKE2 and K3s delivers a robust, observable, and easy-to-manage Edge computing solution. Organizations gain a powerful set of capabilities to improve edge computing performance and tackle the complexities and challenges of managing edge environments. As edge computing applications across industries continue to proliferate, these tools will play an increasingly critical role in shaping the future of how we process, manage and utilize data in an increasingly decentralized world.