Packet provides more oomph for IoT deployments at the network edge

Bare-metal server infrastructure company Packet Hosting Inc. today said it’s forging a partnership with a networking company called Netronome Systems Inc. on a hardware platform designed to power cloud-native workloads at the network edge. Packet is an interesting startup that’s gaining attention with enterprises for its developer-friendly hosting service that provides highly customizable infrastructure for running bare-metal servers in the cloud. The company’s cloud for developers is currently available in 18 locations across the globe and can support up to 60,000 bare-metal installations each month. Essentially what the Packet does is automate data center hardware and networks, enabling developers to consume physical infrastructure at scale. Packet is also seeking to address a growing demand from developers and enterprises for more compute power close to the network edge. So-called “edge computing” refers to the idea of data produced by “internet of things” devices being processed closer to where it is created instead of sending it across long routes to data centers or clouds. Packet doesn’t operate at the “far edge,” where the devices are located, but as close to the edge as is practically possible.