Cloud-out versus edge-in
Another common way of describing an architecture is based on its foundation and assumptions, and in what direction and manner it grows as its scope and responsibilities increase. If it starts out based in the cloud, using cloud-native best practices, and then later adds on capabilities that allow it to run in some fashion on the edge, that approach is described as cloud-out. On the other hand, if it starts out on the edge using edge-native development best practices, and then bursts to (hybrid) cloud infrastructure, that would be termed edge-in. Let’s look at each in turn, go over an example, and discuss their relative strengths and weaknesses.
Looking deeper at cloud-out architectures
Cloud-out architectures begin with the cloud; that is, with global compute infrastructure using cloud-native development best practices. While Chapter 11 will discuss these practices in depth, let’s list an abbreviated version to frame the discussion:
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