This series of blog posts includes the most important announcements and major updates regarding Azure infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and Azure Stack, officialized by Microsoft in the last two weeks.
Azure Stack
Azure Stack Edge
Azure Stack Edge Pro 2
Azure Stack Edge Pro 2 is a new generation of an AI-enabled edge computing device offered as a service from Microsoft. The Azure Stack Edge Pro 2 offers the following benefits over its precursor, the Azure Stack Edge Pro series:
- This series offers multiple models that closely align with your compute, storage, and memory needs. Depending on the model you choose, the compute acceleration could be via one or two Graphical Processing Units (GPU) on the device.
- This series has flexible form factors with multiple mounting options. These devices can be rack mounted, mounted on a wall, or even placed on a shelf in your office.
- These devices have low acoustic emissions and meet the requirements for noise levels in an office environment.
The Pro 2 series is designed for deployment in edge locations such as retail, telecommunications, manufacturing, or even healthcare. Here are the various scenarios where Azure Stack Edge Pro 2 can be used for rapid Machine Learning (ML) inferencing at the edge and preprocessing data before sending it to Azure:
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Inference with Azure Machine Learning: you can run ML models to get quick results that can be acted on before the data is sent to the cloud.
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Preprocess data: transform data before sending it to Azure via compute options such as containerized workloads and Virtual Machines to create a more actionable dataset.
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Transfer data over network to Azure: use this solution to easily and quickly transfer data to Azure to enable further compute and analytics or for archival purposes.
