Many confuse Edge Computing for cloud computing, data managing, data science, quantum computing, data administration and much more.
But Edge Computing could be all that or not so,
WHAT IS EDGE COMPUTING?
Edge computing is basically a distributed information technology (IT) architecture in which client data is processed at the periphery/source/origination of the network, as the name edge implies, this means as close to the originating source, of that data, as possible.
Edge computing (as opposed to cloud computing) is when operations happen at the closest logical location. Often, the most logical and efficient place for the processing of information is locally on a device. Sometimes, at the closest data centre, Essentially, Edge Computing is data processing that happens off the network, on the ‘edge’ of the network, and closer to the source of the information.
Only when the information has been processed and refined is the data sent to the cloud, if at all. Edge Computing is becoming more and more relevant with the growing popularity of the Internet of things (IoT).
Data is basically the powerhouse of every modern business, it’s basically one of the driving tools in pushing every business, both online and offline, forward.
As Oxygen is to humans, so is data to businesses and enterprises.
Imagine a world without data, its basically unimaginable because where do u even start from without it.
Today businesses are swimming in an ocean of data, and these data, no matter the amount can be routinely collected from sensors and IoT devices operating in real time from remote locations and in every operating environment almost anywhere in the world.
EDGE COMPUTING AND IT’S RELATIONSHIP TO (IOT)
You’ve probably noticed my frequent use of the word “internet of things (IoT)”, we can’t necessarily talk about Edge computing without stating what IoT is so,
WHAT IS THE INTERNET OF THINGS?
In a nutshell, the Internet of Things is simply the concept of connecting any device (so long as it has an on/off switch) to the Internet and to other connected devices.
So, what is the significance of edge computing to IoT
Well, we normally have a lot of issues when using certain devices, especially when it comes to processing or better yet calling back or calling out data that we may need, in our day to day lives, like your login information, your messages, an account on qa social media handle and much more.
So, this is what Edge computing does
REDUCING LATENCY
The time it takes for you to send a query through your device to the network and for a reply to come back is called latency. Smart devices that are connected to the Internet don’t work at the speed of human thought, due to a number of factors that limits them, factors like bandwidth, network speed, and even the distance from the server or the database.
But this is where Edge computing comes in,
Edge Computing allows such devices to compute and make decisions locally, at high speed, without affecting their efficiency.
ENHANCING SECURITY
As recent news shows, even the most secure databases are not entirely safe. Any information stored in the cloud can be hacked, compromising your users’ details. With Edge Computing, while the device collects a lot of information, only the relevant (and processed) data is sent to the cloud. In certain cases, the device isn’t even connected to a network all the time. This means even if the cloud were compromised, not all of the user’s data would be at risk although, this is not to say that Edge computing doesn’t have it’s own setbacks.
REDUCING INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS
Whilst it may not be obvious to users, using cloud computing requires a massive infrastructure to support it. With Edge Computing, you can reduce these infrastructures needed. Instead of having to expand servers to accommodate all the information, the data is instead stored with the user.
IMPROVING RELIABILITY
Cloud-based services can be subject to Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. A DDoS attack is when the server is flooded with artificial queries cramping up the network so actual users of the server can’t access it. This can be avoided with Edge Computing by giving your users uninterrupted service. Also, as Edge Computing doesn’t have to rely on a steady connection to the Internet or servers, the service provided is not at risk of network failures or a slow connection.
These are just some of the internal advantages of Edge computing
What are some day-to-day personal uses of Edge Computing?
The speed and dependability of Edge Computing make it ideal for use in several industries, including:
- Self-driving vehicles
- Fleet management
- Traffic management
- Power management with smart grids & smart meters
- Safety monitoring in remote oil and gas rigs
- Smart video orchestration
- Mobile app data management
- Stock market trading
- Gaming
But having said that, it’s not to say that Edge computing has no disadvantages. As an emerging technology, it still has a few disadvantages like,
Security: if maybe a device is hacked, a device using or dependent on edge computing can easily be used to compromise all data whenever it is left physically unprotected. Data can be misled to locations they’re not meant to be in.
Hardware: before using edge computing, there would be a need for your users to have enough storage or space on their device because this system of data processing stores the data on the device of this client, no in the cloud, not in a server.
Incomplete data: As a user, localised information is great. However, as a company operating the service, you may end up losing a lot of user behavior data.
In Summary Edge computing has so many eases of access for users of all status quo but just like every other tech innovation, has its typical setbacks.
