What is Edge Computing?
Edge computing can be referred to as a concept that tries to place computing as near to the data source as possible so that both bandwidth use and latency are minimized. In layman’s terms, edge computing involves running fewer processes in the cloud and relocating them to local locations, which could include a user’s computer, an edge server, or an IoT device. By bringing computing to the edge of a network, the quantity of long-distance transmission between a client and a server is significantly reduced.
When it comes to Internet devices, the network edge is where a device, or a local network that contains the device, interacts with the Internet. The term “edge” can be rather ambiguous. For instance, an individual’s computer or the CPU within an IoT camera can be called the network edge, but the same is also true for the user’s router, ISP, or local edge server. The key thing to note here is that the network’s edge is geographically close to the device, as opposed to origin servers and cloud servers, which might be extremely distant from the devices with which they interact.
What Sets it Apart?
The earliest computers were big, cumbersome devices that were only accessible directly or through terminals, which were essentially extensions of such computers. When the introduction of personal computers took place, computing could occur in a considerably distributed manner. Personal computing was, for a while, the dominating computer model. Applications run, and data can be saved locally on a user’s device or, in certain cases, inside an on-premise data center.
Cloud computing, a comparatively novel development, provides quite a number of advantages over on-premise computing. Due to cloud services being centralized in a vendor-managed “cloud” (or collection of data centers), they are accessible through the internet from any device.
Nonetheless, cloud computing can introduce latency due to the distance that is involved between users and the data centers where the hosting of cloud services takes place. Edge computing brings computing nearer to end users, which reduces the distance that data must travel while maintaining the centralized characteristics of cloud computing.
An Example Showcasing Edge Computing
Think of a building that has a lot of HD IoT video cameras. These can also be referred to as “dumb”…
