California-based Supemicro Computer has announced a customisable integrated platform targeting retail and chain store environments. The platform combines hardware and software to process data from IoT and interrelated computing devices.

Called Intelligent Retail Edge, it provides an integrated software-defined operating platform that simplifies the deployment, management, orchestration and networking of edge infrastructure and applications. The platform runs on Supermicro’s IoT and edge hardware, ranging from small edge devices to full-scale rack-based edge servers that can support GPU, FPGA and other technologies.

“Supermicro’s Intelligent Retail Edge provides retailers the engine they need to deliver innovative technologies and services to their customers efficiently,” said Raju Penumatcha, senior vice president at Supermicro. “Built on Supermicro’s flexible Building Block architecture and powered by leading-edge software from our partners, this is optimised to help address some of the challenges facing the retail industry today.”

There are three certified cluster configurations leveraging the SuperServer platform that is optimised for specific sized stores and application workload requirements.

The entry-level cluster platform is based on the E100, a small fanless IoT and edge gateway server for small stores with space and power constraints. It suits small convenience stores or restaurants, running basic workloads such as point-of-sale (PoS), video surveillance and inventory management.

The mainstream cluster requires a versatile IoT and edge server based on the E300, with a small physical footprint and acoustics for small to medium-sized stores running multiple applications at the edge.

And the high-end cluster configuration uses the 1019/5019, a short depth rack-mount edge workhorse server with storage and networking options and support for accelerator and GPU technologies needed for artificial intelligence and machine-learning applications for medium-to-large-sized stores, such as grocery stores and mid-sized size retailers.

Developed through a collaboration with NodeWeaver and NetFoundry, the platform supports small-to-large clusters for retail applications.

“Retail technology is at the beginning of a new era that promises to revolutionise the customer experience, increase efficiencies and reduce costs,” said Carlo Daffara, CEO of NodeWeaver, a provider of a universal edge fabric software. “As distributed compute becomes more critical for retail operations, these platforms must be deployed, managed, maintained and secured on a mass scale. Supermicro’s Retail Edge provides the foundational operating platform for this distributed compute layer, and NodeWeaver is proud to be a part.”

Providing reliable and secure networking can be challenging in distributed edge environments, and securing customer and PoS data is critical in retail environments. The platform provides easy to deploy network-as-a-service (NaaS) connectivity powered by NetFoundry to deliver zero-trust security, agility and simplicity.

“Retailers are innovating to enhance customer experiences,” said Galeal Zino, CEO of NetFoundry. “The SuperMicro Retail Edge provides next-gen retail applications with the software-defined operating platform and powerful edge compute they require to innovate. To securely connect those retail edges with core, cloud and partners, without needing to manage additional networking servers, the retailer or provider leverages zero trust NaaS, powered by NetFoundry, and integrated with this partnership between Supermicro and NetFoundry.”

NodeWeaver’s adaptive hypervisor provides secure and partitioned execution of any application without the traditional overhead of virtualisation. Initial performance benchmarks show the platform can run applications with performance near to that of bare metal execution, while maintaining the ability to provide for high availability and cloud-like flexibility.