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Key concepts for Azure public MEC

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This document describes important concepts for Azure public multi-access edge compute (MEC).

ExtendedLocation field

All resource providers provide an additional field named extendedLocation, which you use to deploy resources in the Azure public MEC.

Azure Edge Zone ID

Every Azure public MEC site has an Azure Edge Zone ID. This ID is one of the attributes that the extendedLocation field uses to differentiate sites.

Azure CLI and SDKs

To support Azure public MEC, Microsoft has updated the Azure services SDKs. For information about how to use these SDKs for deployment, see:

ARM templates

You can use Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates to deploy resources in the Azure public MEC. Here's an example of how to use extendedLocation in an ARM template to deploy a virtual machine (VM):

{
  ...
  "type": "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines"
  "extendedLocation": {
    "type": "EdgeZone",
    "name": <edgezoneid>,
    }
  ...
}

Parent Azure regions

Every Azure public MEC site is associated with a parent Azure region. This region hosts all the control plane functions associated with the services running in the Azure public MEC. The following table lists active Azure public MEC sites, along with their Edge Zone ID and associated parent region:

Telco provider Azure public MEC name Edge Zone ID Parent region
AT&T ATT Atlanta A attatlanta1 East US 2
AT&T ATT Dallas A attdallas1 South Central US
AT&T ATT Detroit A attdetroit1 Central US

Azure services

Azure Virtual Machines

Azure public MEC supports specific compute and GPU VM SKUs. The following table lists the supported VM sizes:

Type Series VM size
VM D-series Standard_DS1_v2, Standard_DS2_v2, Standard_D2s_v3, Standard_D4s_v3, Standard_D8s_v3
VM E-series Standard_E4s_v3, Standard_E8s_v3
GPU NCasT4_v3-series Standard_NC4asT4_v3, Standard_NC8asT4_v3

Public IP

Azure public MEC allows users to create Azure public IPs that you can then associate with resources such as Azure Virtual Machines, Azure Standard Load Balancer, and Azure Kubernetes Clusters. All the Azure public MEC IPs are Standard SKU public IPs.

Azure Bastion

Azure Bastion is a service you deploy that lets you connect to a VM by using your browser and the Azure portal. To access a VM deployed in the Azure public MEC, the Bastion host must be deployed in a virtual network (VNet) in the parent Azure region of the Azure public MEC site.

Azure Load Balancer

The Azure public MEC supports the Azure Standard Load Balancer SKU.

Network security groups

Azure network security groups that are associated with resources created in the Azure public MEC should be created in the parent Azure region.

Resource groups

Resource groups that are associated with resources created in the Azure public MEC should be created in the parent Azure region.

Azure Storage services

Azure public MEC supports creating Standard SSD managed disks only. All other Azure Storage services aren't supported in the public MEC.

Default outbound access

Because Azure public MEC doesn't support default outbound access, manage your outbound connectivity by using one of the following methods:

  • Use the frontend IP addresses of an Azure Load Balancer for outbound via outbound rules.
  • Assign an Azure public IP to the VM.

DNS Resolution

By default, all services running in the Azure public MEC use the DNS infrastructure in the parent Azure region.

Next steps

To learn about considerations for deployment in the Azure public MEC, advance to the following article:

Considerations for deployment in the Azure public MEC