Wednesday 24 January 2018

Edge Computing vs. Cloud Computing: What’s the Difference?


You are likely hearing a new term now, edge computing. Technologists (and the press, let’s be honest) we to throw a word around before it is well-defined, and in that vacuum come a variety of guessed definitions, of varying accuracy.

The term cloud computing is now as firmly lodged in our technical lexicon as email and Internet, and the concept has taken firm hold in business as well. According to my observation “no cloud” policy will be as prevalent in business as a “no Internet” policy. Which is to say no one who wants to stay in business will be without one.

Edge computing is a term you are going to hear more of in the coming years because it precedes another term you will be hearing a lot, the Internet of Things (IoT). You see, the formally adopted definition of edge computing is a form of technology that is necessary to make the IoT work.

And again as a victim of the same, let me brand edge computing is a “mesh network of micro data centers that process or store critical data locally and push all received data to a central data center or cloud storage repository, in a footprint of less than 100 square feet.” I think I did not lose you.

Meet Edge Computing, processing data at the edge of the network  where it is taken in has a number of benefits, starting with reducing the latency and makes connected applications more responsive and robust. Some applications might need immediate response, such as a sensor for failing equipment or for detecting a break-in.

It also takes the computation load off the data center if data can be processed and reacted upon at the point of origin rather than making the round trip to and from the data center. So it reduces the burden on both the data center and the network.

You may hear edge computing referred to by other names than micro data centers. They include fog computing and cloudlets. Fog computing, or “fogging,” is a term used to described a decentralized computing infrastructure that extends the cloud to the edge of the network.

Cloudlets are mobility-enhanced micro data centers located at the edge of a network and serve the mobile or smart device portion of the network. They are designed to handle resource-intensive mobile apps and take the load off both the network and the central data center and keep computing close to the point of origin.

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