The edgeEngine Runtime is a binary executable that runs as a process on any and all devices running within a mimik cluster. In fact, by definition, in order for 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.)
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| 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. A microservice is exposed to the cluster as a RESTful API. These microservices are created using the edgeSDK. (We'll discuss the edgeSDK further along in this introductory documentation.)
In addition to providing the serverless runtime environment, the edgeEngine runtime takes care of all the work that goes with adding the device to a mimik cluster as a fully functional node that is accessible by other devices within the cluster.
The long and short of it is that once the edgeEngine runtime is installed on a device, that device is transformed into a node in a mimik cluster. That node now has the capability to 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 other device within the mimik cluster.