A unified approach for intelligent deployments at the edge

Speaker: Mark Asselstine

Track: Debian Blends and Debian derived distributions

Type: Long talk (45 minutes)

Room: Bada

Time: Jul 28 (Sun): 15:30

Duration: 0:45

Over the past decade, ‘build from source’ solutions like the Yocto Project and Buildroot have been favored for enabling various use cases at the Intelligent Edge. Traditional methods of building embedded Linux devices, which offer extensive customizations and the ability to generate an SDK providing a cross-development toolchain, have allowed developers to maximize the performance of resource-constrained devices while offloading build tasks to more powerful machines.

However, the increasing connectivity demands of edge deployments, including Over-The Air (OTA) updates and new paradigms such as data aggregation, edge processing, predictive maintenance, and various machine learning features, necessitate a different architectural approach for both near-edge devices and servers. This results in using multiple distributions, creating a heterogeneous landscape of operating environments increasing complexity and cost. Such complexities impose a significant burden to monitor for CVEs and bugs, additional SBOMs, diverse update cadences, and many other challenges.

To address these challenges and provide a more homogeneous solution, this talk will discuss how we are creating a Debian derivative using modern tools, to ease maintenance while combining traditional installers with a new set of distro-to-order tools allowing a single distribution to better service edge and server deployment. Coupled with a unified tech stack, this initiative offers a strategic advantage for enterprises aiming to optimize their edge deployments, create a seamless operating environment across devices, and set the foundation for future innovations in intelligent edge deployments.