The open source StarlingX project has been updated with an edge security focus to target beyond its telecom-heavy client base.

With StarlingX 11.0, inter-host traffic between Kubernetes pods for a service can be configured to be protected by IPsec in tunnel mode over a cluster host network, with this encryption also extending to Calico-based inter-hosts for the first time.

Two new roles, Configurator and Operator, meanwhile, enhance access control flexibility, with the former mirroring admin privileges except sensitive certificate operations, while the latter bridges the gap between reader and admin, permitting essential host operations without full administrative access.

Beyond security, new dual-stack networking facilitates the simultaneous use of both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses, while a platform network address reduction means a large number of small edge sites can be deployed without exhausting IPv4 allocations, which is used to identify and locate devices on a network.

Starling X’s latest version also supports distributed-cloud models, with its Distributed Cloud configuration supporting edge solutions through “central management and orchestration for a geographically distributed network of StarlingX systems.”

To support operator resilience and failover, geo-redundancy sees sub-clouds reassigned from a failed system controller site to an available site with enough spare capacity.

Starling X also touts improved rollback features, encompassing All-in-One Simplex (AIO-SX), a deployment option for running all edge cloud functions on a single server node.

While touting Starling X use by the likes of T-Systems and Verizon, the new version makes the case for any enterprise seeking distributed cloud architecture, with use cases such as railway system backbones, high-performance computing (HPC), edge data center solutions, and industrial automation.

Vodafone recently endorsed the framework by tapping software vendor Wind River to support its European open radio access network (RAN) efforts, with Wind River’s cloud platform based on Starling X.

Wind River’s CTO recently told SDxCentral the platform gave the likes of VMware, Red Hat, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) a run for their money when it was selected by Boost Mobile to replace VMware as the carrier’s long-time container-as-a-service (CaaS) provider.