The introduction of Azure IoT Edge is Microsoft’s aiming to change the cloud. It is also a culmination of the company’s efforts to connect Azure directly with data from Internet of Things devices. Microsoft says these devices are important as individual computing resources, despite their small size. With that in mind, Azure IoT Edge allows Microsoft’s cloud application to use the compute power from IoT devices. This allows Azure Functions to be executed on IoT endpoints at the data collection store. This means users can get more work done, even on devices as small as Raspberry Pi. There is no need for a server farm, allowing users to complete data work on their devices and networks. Microsoft used an example, saying the Azure IoT Edge service allows users to “automatically maintain and protect the very expensive machines in your factory from breaking.”
Azure Cosmos DB
Microsoft also announced Azure Cosmos DB at Build 2017 today. This new cloud database service is a brand-new platform created from the ground up. It allows customers to power planet-scale cloud services and huge data applications.
The company says this is a first of its kind service with guaranteed uptime, consistency, throughput, and latency at the 99th percentile. Customers can use Azure Cosmos DB to elastically scale across global regions and maintain power and performance.
