Dell, VMware Develop Edge Computing OneBox For Private 5G

Dell Technologies and VMware are building a new edge computing platform with SK Telecom to provide private 5G in a single multi-edge compute (MEC) box to give enterprises more secure and reliable access to data at edge locations.

The new OneBox MEC is based on Dell’s PowerEdge XE2420 server coupled with the VMware Telco Cloud Platform and South Korea-based SK Telecom’s 5GX MEC platform to offer fully integrated private 5G connectivity and edge computing services. The OneBox MEC delivers 5G-enabled edge computing that will boost latency, applications and content delivery at the edge.

“Bandwidth and latency are always a premium and multi-access edge computing (MEC) allows for applications to make real time decisions without having to send large amounts of data back for processing,” said Rob Steele, chief technology officer at SkyHive, a Sanford, Fla.-based Dell Technologies and VMware partner.

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Steele said the OneBox MEC, which will become general available later this year, could open the doors to new customer use cases at the edge as many companies deal with network latency issues.

For example, he said with MEC technology, “Connected vehicles are able to get real time road conditions and potential hazards without having to send information to central servers. For time sensitive security situations like at an airport or hospitals, if a drone breaches the security perimeter, action can be taken immediately without having to wait on latency or sub optimal networking conditions.”

Approximately 40 percent of enterprises have issues with the latency of their current networking solutions, according to a recent study commissioned by Dell, SK Telecom (SKT), VMware and Intel. For hospital patient monitoring systems, 61 percent of those surveyed said they’ve experience performance issues, while 45 percent expressed reliability concerns with their current solutions.

The OneBox MEC will help customers use private mobility and edge computing to develop new services where the data is created in industries like healthcare, retail and construction.

The edge computing market is being hailed as the biggest opportunity since the cloud and as the fuel that will power the next wave of digital transformation.

The worldwide edge computing market is expected to reach approximately $250 billion in 2024, with a compound annual growth rate of 12.5 percent over the next four years, according to IDC. Services, such as professional and provisioned services, will account for 46 percent of all edge spending by 2024, followed by hardware at 32 percent, and then edge-related software at 22 percent.

“The edge is the new frontier for innovation,” said Lakshmi Mandyam, vice president of product management for VMware’s Telco & Edge Cloud, in a statement. “The platform we are building with Dell Technologies and SKT will help enterprises innovate at the edge with velocity and bring new and exciting experiences to their customers. Our Telco Cloud Platform provides a foundation on top of which enterprises can deliver edge services on any cloud with agility and a consistent experience.”

SkyHive’s Steele said it bodes well for channel partners that Dell and VMware are continuing their deep technology integration strategy in 2021.

“Integration is a must these days, the less time we have to put into customizing solutions the faster we can get our customer’s solutions and services to market,” he said. “We love seeing new Dell and VMware integrated solutions as we know our customers expect the best and Dell and VMware always deliver.”