LAS VEGAS — Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) converged edge systems now run enterprise software from Citrix, GE Digital, Microsoft, and other vendors at the edge. This allows companies to run the same software in data centers, clouds, and the edge.

“This is not a light version, it’s the full enterprise-class power software coming out of the cloud unleashed at the edge,” said Tom Bradicich, VP and GM of IoT and converged edge systems at HPE, during a press conference at HPE Discover. “Now there are three places software applications can run identically, and data can be transferred identically to lower the cost of IT.”

Today’s announcement follows a $4 billion edge commitment HPE CEO Antonio Neri made yesterday during his keynote. The investment, to be made over four years, will fund “intelligent edge” research and development around connectivity, security, edge computing, automation, machine learning, and artificial intelligence (AI), Neri said.

Typically, companies run a pared-down version of enterprise software at the edge because edge systems don’t usually have the power to run the data center- or cloud-grade versions. “The presence of the full software stack, the power of that is extremely game changing,” Bradicich said.

The applications run on HPE’s Edgeline devices. These are compact systems that are temperature, shock, and vibration hardened for remote locations like oil rigs, factory floors, or military bases.

HPE worked with software partners to validate the architecture and operation of the following enterprise software stacks on Edgeline EL 1000 and EL 4000 platforms: Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft Azure, SAP HANA software, PTC ThingWorx, GE Digitials Predix platform, SparkCognition’s SparkPredict and Citrix XenApp/XenDesktop.

This simplifies management in hybrid IT environments because it means the same applications and management software can be used from the edge to the cloud, Bradicich said.

It also means faster response times because the data is processed at the edge instead of being sent to the cloud. “The data at the edge is bigger than all other types of big data combined,” he said. “How can I send all that back to the cloud? Why not process it at the edge.”

Also today, HPE added more software-defined storage to these edge devices. The Edgeline Storage Adapter option kit adds up to 48 terabytes of SD-storage to the converged edge systems.

This enables use cases like AI, video analytics or databases at the edge, using storage management tools such as Microsoft Storage Spaces, HPE StoreVirtual VSA, and VMware vSAN.

Photo: Tom Bradicich, VP and GM of IoT and converged edge systems at HPE, talks about new edge device capabilities and software partners.