Akri 0.2: Edge Device Discovery Evolution

Introduction

Akri 0.2 — Edge Device Discovery Evolution — was released on September 20, 2021.

Edge clusters force trade-offs: less compute, worse connectivity, and a stronger need for simple operations.

In this release: Akri 0.2 enhances edge device discovery with improved discovery handlers, better Kubernetes integration, and enhanced observability for IoT workloads.

Discovery Handler Improvements

• Handler expansion adds support for more device protocols and discovery mechanisms.
• Handler reliability improvements ensure consistent device discovery across network conditions.
• Custom handlers support enables teams to create device-specific discovery logic.
• Handler performance optimizations reduce discovery latency and resource usage.

Kubernetes Integration

1. CRD enhancements provide better resource definitions for device instances and configurations.
2. Scheduling improvements enable better placement of workloads that require specific devices.
3. Resource management optimizations improve handling of device lifecycle and availability.
4. RBAC integration enables fine-grained access control for device management.

Observability & Monitoring

• Device metrics expansion provides detailed information about discovered devices.
• Health monitoring improvements track device availability and connectivity.
• Event logging enhancements provide better visibility into device discovery events.
• Prometheus integration enables comprehensive monitoring of edge device infrastructure.

Edge Use Cases

• Industrial IoT support enables better management of PLCs and industrial controllers.
• Smart city applications improve handling of sensors and cameras.
• Retail use cases enhance management of point-of-sale and inventory devices.
• Healthcare applications support medical device integration.

Getting Started

kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/project-akri/akri/main/deploy/manifests/install.yaml

Create a device configuration:

apiVersion: akri.sh/v0
kind: Configuration
metadata:
  name: onvif-config
spec:
  discoveryHandler:
    name: onvif
    discoveryDetails:
      onvif:
        discoveryDurationSeconds: 10
  capacity: 1
  brokerPodSpec:
    containers:
    - name: broker
      image: my-broker-image:latest

Summary

Akri 0.2 continues to evolve as a solution for edge device discovery, providing teams with tools to manage physical devices as first-class Kubernetes resources.