How Does the edgeEngine Runtime Work?

The edgeEngine Runtime is a binary executable that runs as a process on all devices running within a mimik cluster. In fact, by definition, for a device to be considered a member of a mimik cluster, it must be running the edgeEngine Runtime.

Once the edgeEngine Runtime process is up and running, it acts as an intermediary serverless runtime between a custom microservice and the host device's operating system. (See Figure 1 below.)

Figure 1: edgeEngine interacts with the host operating system to provide a serverless environment upon which to run a custom microservice

The edgeEngine Runtime has its own internal HTTP server that supports custom microservices. These microservices are created using the edgeSDK. (We'll discuss the edgeSDK further along in this introductory documentation.) A microservice is exposed to the cluster as a RESTful API.

In addition to providing the serverless runtime environment, the edgeEngine Runtime takes care of all the work that adds the device to a mimik cluster as a fully functional node accessible by other devices within the cluster.

In effect, once the edgeEngine Runtime is installed on a device, that device is transformed into a node in a mimik cluster.

That node can now run a microservice in a serverless manner. That microservice is created using the edgeSDK . Also, once the microservice is up and running on a device, it can be used by another device within the mimik cluster.