Broadcom innovations accelerate enterprise edge AI readiness

Las Vegas – VMware Explore 2024 – Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGO), which recently acquired VMware, today announced developments across its Software-Defined Edge product portfolio to enable enterprises to support Edge AI workloads via new and enhanced connectivity, deployment, and lifecycle management capabilities, including:

• Combined Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) and satellite connections support in the VMware VeloCloud Edge 710 appliance as well as the new VMware VeloCloud Edge 720 and 740 appliances.
• VMware VeloCloud SASE, Secured by Symantec enhancements featuring the integration of VeloCloud and Symantec points of presence (PoPs).
• VMware Edge Compute Stack product enhancements.

According to IDC, worldwide spending on edge computing is expected to be $232 billion in 2024, an increase of 15.4% over 2023. Edge computing is expected to play a pivotal role in the deployment of AI applications. (1) Broadcom is evolving its software-defined edge portfolio to help enterprises address the growth of AI and non-AI workloads at the edge. Edge AI workloads are deployed at geographically dispersed locations to enhance business operations in order to reduce costs, increase sales or improve compliance. Unlike traditional IT workloads which are centralized at the data center, Edge AI workloads such as video inference cameras, industrial control systems, and other OT (Operational Technology) devices and applications are deployed locally and are largely autonomous, they are orchestrated rather than administered, they consume data where it’s being created, and are driven by the lines of business.

Broadcom defines the software-defined edge as distributed digital infrastructure for connecting, securing and running workloads across a number of locations, close to endpoints that are producing or consuming data. It extends to where the users and devices are – in the office, on the road, in a cell site, at a retail store or on the factory floor. Broadcom addresses the three layers of the software-defined edge: the edge compute stack which hosts the applications and workloads; the intelligent overlay where connectivity and security services run across the WAN; and the underlay network layer, which runs the software for network connectivity across fixed and 5G networks to provide orchestration and network programmability.

“We’re focused on enabling enterprises to adopt Edge AI workloads,” said Sanjay Uppal, vice president and general manager, Software-Defined Edge Division, Broadcom. “We’ve announced support for Fixed Wireless Access and satellite connections in VMware VeloCloud Edge to deliver critical, blended connectivity for OT devices as well as AI and non-AI edge workloads. We uniquely offer enterprises a good, better, best approach to connectivity at the edge by allowing them to tweak real-time WAN performance, gain insights from the network, and program the network. This convergence of the underlay network enables enterprises to build networks in minutes to support today’s and tomorrow’s workloads.”

Integrated FWA and Satellite Support to Enhance Connectivity for Edge AI Workloads

To address the need for more robust connectivity to support edge computing and Edge AI workloads, Broadcom today announced enhancements to the VMware VeloCloud Edge 710 appliance as well as introduced new VMware VeloCloud Edge 720 and 740 appliances. VeloCloud Edge 710 now provides enterprises with a combination of broadband, FWA, and satellite connections to significantly improve real-time voice, video, and application traffic – delivering enhanced connectivity at the edge. This blended connectivity provides enterprises with redundant, always-on connectivity for edge devices and workloads. Additionally, Communication Service Providers (CSPs) can use the VeloCloud Edge 710, 720, and 740 appliances to further modernize their infrastructure and monetize their services by delivering a premium, combined SD-WAN, FWA, and satellite offering to enterprise customers in support of their edge deployments. CSPs running both VeloCloud SD-WAN and VMware Telco Cloud Platform benefit from the ability to program the real-time performance of their WAN using insights from their networks. Read more in the blog post, "Unveiling the Future of Networking: VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN Edges 710, 720, and 740."

PoP Integration Boosts Enterprise Connectivity to the Cloud

To better assist enterprises with cloud connectivity, Broadcom today announced initial integration of VeloCloud SD-WAN points of presence (PoPs) with Symantec PoPs. This integration will further automate cloud access without compromising performance and security. VeloCloud SASE, secured by Symantec customers will also benefit from higher bandwidth and availability, lower latency, and global reach to major cloud and SaaS providers. Earlier this year, Broadcom announced the availability of VeloCloud SASE, secured by Symantec—a single-vendor SASE solution. The solution is a culmination of a joint effort to integrate best-in-class VeloCloud SD-WAN and Symantec Security Service Edge (SSE) capabilities—extending significant benefits to Broadcom’s VeloCloud and Symantec customers.

Simplifying Edge AI Workload Deployment and Lifecycle Management

The distributed nature of the edge produces numerous challenges for enterprises and their respective IT teams—from managing edge devices, applications, and infrastructure across multiple if not hundreds or thousands of locations. Enterprises are investing in solutions that enable zero-touch provisioning and application lifecycle management to accelerate the turnkey deployment of secure edge environments. An edge-optimized runtime and orchestration platform, VMware Edge Compute Stack delivers frictionless management of edge apps and infrastructure across many sites with limited resources. With its latest two releases, VMware Edge Compute Stack delivered critical capabilities to efficiently manage infrastructure and applications including Edge AI apps and workloads such as Small Language Models (SLMs) at dispersed sites, including: 

• Zero-Touch Orchestration: VMware Edge Cloud Orchestrator simplifies deployment and application lifecycle management across multiple sites by leveraging GitOps and desired state management. By automating these processes, enterprises enable consistent and efficient operations, even with limited IT resources.
• Pull-Based Architecture: Hosts always initiate the communication to the management plane as a keepalive, and also to fetch any changes to its configuration. This architecture puts less burden on the management plane, allowing it to achieve a much higher scale.
• Edge Infrastructure and Application Monitoring: It configures metrics gathering and transmission for infrastructure, virtual machines, and Kubernetes-based workloads. Customers can achieve comprehensive local edge monitoring in minutes with the included sample implementation of industry-standard monitoring tools and pre-built dashboards. 

These capabilities simplify deploying and managing Edge AI workloads enabling enterprises to more quickly realize the business benefits of their Edge AI investments. The recent release of VMware Edge Compute Stack 3.6 delivered additional new features to make it even easier to deploy and manage the edge at scale.

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Supporting Quote

“We’re aligned with Broadcom’s Edge AI approach,” said Keith Bradley, vice president, IT and Security, Nature Fresh Farms. “We rely on IoT devices at the edge—in our greenhouses and other facilities—to monitor and capture data used to keep millions of growing plants healthy. The 5G and broadband connectivity capabilities of VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN enable us to connect and tie together all our facilities across Canada and the U.S., while VMware VeloCloud SD-Access provides consistent connectivity, performance, and security capabilities to IoT devices deployed in remote locations. With these solutions, we’ve improved our farm-to-fork time to deliver better tasting, higher quality produce to our customers.”