top of page
Edge Computing
Overview
HOW IT WORKS
In the last few years with the ever expanding (exploding) data content via the internet, edge computing is increasingly separated from the “core” datacenter. To represent this difference, some place Cloud on one side of the core datacenter, with edge on the other.
For manufacturing, it is the function of compute, often virtualization, which is closer to the source (factory) and optimized for high-speed data collection and real-time analysis. It is often not as centrally controlled. It may be wired, but it is increasingly becoming wireless communication (or secure Internet enabled). In many contexts, edge computing is more typically associated with the Internet-of-Things (IoT).
Characteristics
By most definitions today, edge computing accommodates data streaming, usually including real-time analysis of data with little to no latency. For smart applications and devices, responding to data instantaneously is crucial. For example, immediate responsiveness is critical for autopiloting aircrafts, self-driving cars, or just-in-time manufacturing. Thus, edge computing is becoming more valuable to sizable organizations who benefit from the lower cost of reduced internet bandwidth, or multi-cloud compute resources, as close to the source of data as feasible. As organizations have been moving away from relying on central datacenter resources, the trend towards edge computing has accelerated, delivering services “at the edge”.
WHY YOU NEED EDGE COMPUTING
Be More Competitive
To be more competitive, edge computing must be secure and protect privacy (encryption). To lower costs, it typically may have specialized nano or microprocessors with more optimized cost-effective cache or memory, and specialized integrated components. It will often exploit other mobile devices and may be software-defined or virtualized, but with lower cost distributed network function virtualization or mobile edge computing architectures. Serverless architectures, mobile edge computing, or ubiquitous computing are related terms.
Edge computing will tend to have secure, fast communications with associated attributes of scalability, reliability, speed, and efficiency. Edge computing or IoT applications include home automation based on increasingly intelligent back-end systems; autonomous vehicles; and terms including “smart”, such as smart city, smart grid, or smart industry. We need to be careful not to define too many boundaries in this area since edge computing takes many forms and is constantly evolving.
As edge computing is enabled by all forms of standard secure communication, it will be further enhanced by reliable 5G wireless because it is not bound by any one construct. Since it can be a profitable extension of an organization or of the hybrid data center, it will increasingly be multi-cloud, gaining more intelligence as it feeds from more artificially intelligent sources.
EDGE COMPUTING BENEFITS
bottom of page