Vapor IO and Digital Realty Integrate Platforms in Three Markets to Enable "Killer Apps" for Edge

Vapor IO, creators of the Kinetic Edge® platform and the first nationwide provider of neutral host edge colocation, networking and exchange services, and Digital Realty, a leading global provider of data center, colocation and interconnection solutions, today announced the availability of a joint core-to-edge solution in three U.S. metro areas. The solution connects Digital Realty's PlatformDIGITALtm with Vapor IO's Kinetic Edge services, making it easier for joint customers to deliver low-latency edge applications.

The combined solution is now available first in Atlanta, Chicago and Dallas, with plans for expansion to other cities. The initial 3-market deployment provides key locations for companies looking to test and validate new edge-native applications and workflows that connect and coordinate traffic exchange between PlatformDIGITALtm and Vapor IO's Kinetic Edge deployments.

The two companies announced their collaboration in October of 2019 and have since completed the integration in the first three markets. The companies are now working closely on initial proof of concept workloads that will operate seamlessly together, whether deployed near the access edge on the Kinetic Edge platform or at the regional edge in Digital Realty's centers of data exchange. Digital Realty's connected campuses form an ideal meeting place to coordinate workloads and extend connections, making possible new distributed workflows spanning from distributed core to the access edge.

"We've always said the first ?killer apps' for the edge would be economics and the proverbial easy button," said Cole Crawford, CEO & founder of Vapor IO. "Our collaboration with Digital Realty combines the cloud proximity, core, regional edge and interconnect capabilities of PlatformDIGITAL with the low-latency, distributed architecture of our Kinetic Edge service, offering a combined edge-to-core platform that is already enabling valuable emerging use cases."

"Digital Realty's PlatformDIGITAL is a first of its kind global data center platform designed to help customers scale digital business," said Chris Sharp, CTO of Digital Realty. "By integrating Vapor IO's Kinetic Edge Exchange into Digital Realty's campuses as part of PlatformDIGITAL, workloads in these locations can elastically span from the core to the edge, enabling new distributed workflows that dynamically scale digital business."

Customers can work with solution architects from Digital Realty and Vapor IO to build a deployment model that optimizes infrastructure for specific use cases. Use cases enabled by the collaboration can benefit from accelerated time to market, lowered costs and optimal performance. Some of these use cases include:

• 4G & 5G Networks: Build public and private networks that leverage neutral hosts that can support virtualization efforts for both core market sites as well as edge sites in close proximity to RAN aggregation points.
• Distributed AI: Instantiate a virtuous cycle of core model development with edge inferencing, and enable use cases like factory automation and smart IoT.
• IoT and Robotics: Augment the real world with smart machines, including telemetry control from the edge, storage at the core, and give machines the power to see with distributed AI.
• Autonomous Vehicles: Enhance safety and performance with distributed AI and supported by core-to-edge infrastructure on land, sea or air, with large-scale training and data storage at the core.
• Augmented Reality: Solve industrial, professional and personal AR together with real-time AI inferencing and rendering at the edge, as well as training, content generation and storage at the core.

"Vapor IO's partnership with Digital Realty enables a comprehensive edge connectivity solution from the last mile to the cloud," said Ned Bellavance, Analyst for GigaOm. "The Kinetic Edge network from Vapor IO provides a distributed mesh of local sites with exchange points connecting to private data centers, internet providers, and cloud networks. The PlatformDIGITAL solution from Digital Realty enables customers to build the network they need for core to cloud solutions."

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About Vapor IO

Vapor IO is developing the largest nationwide edge networking, colocation and exchange platform at the edge of the wireless and wireline networks. The company's Kinetic Edge® platform combines multi-tenant colocation with software-defined interconnection and high-speed networking. The Kinetic Edge platform offers the most flexible, highly-distributed infrastructure for delivering modern, low-latency applications, and the company has deployed its Kinetic Edge in Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, and Pittsburgh. By the end of 2020, the company plans to have its Kinetic Edge live in 20 US metropolitan markets, furthering its goal to deploy over 100 data centers in 36 U.S. markets over the next two years. Follow @VaporIO on Twitter.

Vapor, Kinetic Edge and Kinetic Edge Exchange are trademarks of Vapor IO, all rights reserved.

About Digital Realty

Digital Realty supports the data center, colocation and interconnection strategies of customers across the Americas, EMEA and APAC, ranging from cloud and information technology services, communications and social networking to financial services, manufacturing, energy, healthcare and consumer products. To learn more about Digital Realty, please visit digitalrealty.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.