Edge Node Overview

Concepts Related to Edge Nodes

Project

A project is the logical grouping of edge nodes. Each edge node can only belong to a single project. An enterprise can have multiple projects. The project can be a regular project or a specific type like 'Azure.' In Azure, some default apps are deployed automatically as soon as a new edge node is added to a project.

The project's properties can apply to all the edge nodes in that project. We recommend (though not mandatory) similar edge nodes in every project because bulk operations can be performed easily.

The project requires standard object-level attributes like the name, which must be unique, and the title, which can be changed later. Depending on the type of project, other project-related attributes are configurable.

Models

ZEDEDA provides pre-created models to define the physical hardware attributes of the Edge Nodes. Models have the following attributes. 

• Resource capacity for memory, storage, and CPU. 
• Type of CPU–if it's an ARM device or x86 device. 
• The model also describes what physical interfaces or ports are available on the device. 
• The hardware bus interfaces and numbers are also captured. 

Status and state

In ZEDEDA, each edge node has an Admin Status and a Run State. You control the Admin Status. As part of the edge node creation workflow, the newly created edge node will be in the 'Inactive' status. Once you activate the edge node, the Admin Status is moved from 'Inactive' to 'Active' status. At this point, the edge node calls back to ZEDEDA CLOUD and presents its credentials. ZEDEDA platform, after verification of credentials, moves the device from 'Active' status into a 'Registered' state.

The Run State mainly shows the current state of the edge node, whether online or in error. It also depicts the other Run States like provisioned, unprovisioned, suspect, etc. ZEDEDA platform, after verifying the actual state of the edge node, moves it to a particular state. 

You'll find the status & state in the Edge Node Details View.

Onboarding

You can onboard edge nodes in multiple ways. Depending on the onboarding options, the Admin Status might be affected. 

Upload edge node certificate

You can onboard the edge node using the Trusted Platform Module/Hardware Security Module (TPM/HSM) backed device certificate. If you use this method, you need to extract the device certificate from the edge node after it is first installed or from the inventory partition of your USB installer. The device automatically goes into a 'Registered' Admin Status if you use this method. 

Onboarding key

To use the onboarding key, one of the following methods can be used to get the required serial number:

• Hardware Serial Key
  Use the hardware-based serial number provided with the edge node in this method. Assuming that the serial number is programmed into the DMI table of the edge node and the EVE-OS software interprets it.

• Software Serial Key
  In this method, the software serial key is dynamically generated on the platform by EVE-OS instead of using the software serial number available when the EVE-OS is installed on the hardware. 

Generate single-use EVE-OS installer

You can generate a unique set of credentials specifically for the single-use installer. These credentials are embedded within the EVE-OS installer image itself. When the EVE-OS instance boots from this installer, it uses these embedded credentials to register with the ZEDEDA platform. Because the installer is single-use, it inherently ties the generated credentials to the first device that uses it. This provides a form of hardware binding, even if it's not a persistent hardware identity like a certificate. After configuration, the installation image can be generated through ZCLI. 

Edge Nodes List View

You can see summary metrics and a list of your onboarded edge nodes in the list page. After you log in to the ZEDEDA GUI:

1. From the left panel, go to Edge Nodes.
2. Expand the Summary drop-down.
   The summary panel shows the Run State Distribution, Edge App Instances Load, and the EVE-OS distribution of Edge Nodes. As you click items in these charts, the items get added to the filter, and your list of edge nodes changes to match the filter. 
3. Observe the list of your edge nodes.

Most of the instructions in Manage an Edge Node show how to do things from this view. However, many management tasks can be done from the details view as well.

Edge Node Details View

Following the summary panel list, a view of all the edge nodes is displayed in a tabular format.

1. Click one of your edge nodes in the list to see its details.
2. The Status tab displays the Information (including Admin Status, Run State, ECC Memory Monitoring), Configuration, Attestation, Utilization, EVE-OS Images, Edge App Instances, Patch Envelopes, Volume Instances, Network Instances, NTP, and Edge View Session Details.
3. The Basic Info tab shows the Identity, Edge View Configuration, and Hardware Info parameters. These fields are described in more detail in the section about
4. The Adapters tab shows the Network Adapters and  the IO adapters.
   • You can expand the adapter to toggle Show/Hide Reported Status for your adapters.
   • You can also click VLAN Details button > expand the logical label to toggle Show/Hide Reported Status for your VLANS.
   • The status details include the following:   
     • Bytes transferred & received
     • Packets transferred & received
     • Errors
     • Drops
     • ACL drops
     • ACL limit rate drops
5. The Storage tab shows the Physical Storage disks.
   
   • Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology (SMART) metrics provide insights into the health and performance of storage disks. You can see the overall SMART Status (if it’s available to click), plus the vendor specific attributes:  
     • Id
     • Attribute name
     • Value (Temperature conversion from raw Kelvin to Celcius)
     • Raw Value of temperature
6. The Events tab shows edge node deployment status changes, configuration changes, or state transitions.

Next Steps

This is a series of articles. You will likely follow them in this order.

1. Edge Node Overview  - You are here!
2. Onboard an Edge Node
3. Manage an Edge Node
4. Use the ZEDEDA CLI to Manage an Edge Node 

After you complete the series, you might be interested in the following articles: 

• Add edge applications from the Marketplace, which represents the Metadata manifest of the software application.
  • Add Storage if you’re adding your own app to the local marketplace.
  • Configure inbound and outbound firewall rules for network traffic. For example, see inbound and outbound rules in Add a Container as an Edge App Type or Add a Virtual Machine as an Edge App Type.
• Configure a network instance to enable network connectivity for your edge apps, including enabling edge apps on the same edge node to communicate with one another.
• Deploy the edge application on the edge node.