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Azure IoT Edge is an edge software solution deployed on premises to break up data silos and consolidate operational data at scale in the Azure Cloud. Developers use Azure IoT Edge to remotely deploy, manage, and secure cloud-native workloads—such as AI, Azure services, or business logic—directly on IoT devices. Use of the edge component allows customers to optimize cloud spend and enables devices to react faster to local changes and operate reliably, even in extended offline periods or when only intermittent connectivity to the cloud is available.
IoT Edge has three components: IoT Edge modules are containers that run Azure services, third-party services, or custom code, and execute locally on IoT Edge-enabled devices. The IoT Edge runtime that runs on each IoT Edge-enabled device and manages the modules deployed to each device is open-sourced as part of the IoT Edge project hosted on GitHub. The cloud-based interface remotely monitors and manages IoT Edge-enabled devices and enables zero-touch deployment. IoT Edge code is consistent across the cloud and the edge, and supports languages such as C, C#, Java, Node.js, and Python.
The latest Azure IoT Edge runtime long-term servicing (LTS) release, version 1.5.0, is now available on the GitHub release page. In this latest version Edge Agent and Edge Hub now support TLS 1.3 for inbound/outbound communication.
Azure IoT Edge modules are implemented as containers, so IoT Edge needs a container engine to launch them. Azure IoT Edge works with Linux or Windows devices that support the Moby container management system, which extends the concepts of containerization, isolation, and management from the cloud to devices at the edge. Docker CE and Docker EE are also based on the Moby open-source project and are compatible with Azure IoT Edge.
Modules built as Linux containers can be deployed to either Linux or Windows devices. For Linux devices, the IoT Edge runtime is installed directly on the host device. For Windows devices, a Linux virtual machine prebuilt with the IoT Edge runtime runs on the host device. IoT Edge for Linux on Windows is the recommended way to run IoT Edge on Windows devices. The companion release of Azure IoT Edge for Linux on Windows (EFLOW) 1.5 LTS is expected in Q3 2024.
Azure IoT Edge is governed by Microsoft's Modern Lifecycle Policy. Version 1.5.0 is slated to be serviced with fixes for regressions and critical security issues through November 2026, reflecting a two-year product lifecycle. The predecessor version, v1.4.0, was released in 2022 and is supported until November 2024.
Further information on ARC's coverage of Digital Transformation at the Industrial IoT Edge is available here.