The industry keeps dishing out amazing buzzwords that represent technologies that change how the business industry works and how we live. For instance, cloud computing has changed the world because of how it has helped ease computing. But now, there is a new player in town called Edge computing. Edge computing is like the cloud, but it has some interesting differences. So, what is it?
Edge Computing
This is a network of small data centers that store and process critical data locally. Once data is received, most of the data is pushed to a centralized storage repository like the cloud that covers less than 100 square feet. To put it into perspective, edge computing deals with data that comes from single board computers (SBCs) from Winsystems and mostly IoT devices. Data collected by these devices is sent to the cloud or data center where it is processed. But edge computing handles part of the data locally to reduce the traffic that is at the cloud. What does the use of edge computing play in the bigger picture?
Will Edge Computing Surpass the Cloud?
There are tech analysts who suggest that edge computing will soon take the number one spot soon and cloud computing to take the second slot. We also see many autonomous drones, cars, and robots cropping up everywhere. These devices will require faster processing that cannot be achieved when devices are communicating with the cloud. Therefore, we are going to see edge computing delivering rapid process requirements faster than the cloud. We have seen how the cloud market has tried to switch people to cloud over the last decade, but now edge computing is what people should jump on. Cloud computing will still be present for many more years, but it will be a secondary processing resource that supplements edge computing.
The Effect of Edge Computing In Business
In an IDC report, it was reported that in approximately two years, 45% of the data in IoT devices would be analyzed, stored, and processed by edge computing by 2020. There will be billions of devices that will be connected to the edge network, and edge computing will reign supreme. The economy and businesses will have to adapt to this trend. But how will they do that?
Dependable Operation and Cost of IoT Will Drop
Since the source is where most of the processing will take place even when connectivity is low, edge computing will allow for normal operations of the devices which is a huge deal. Since less traffic will be seen in data centers, IoT solutions will be easy to manage. And it will be easier to manage because businesses will determine how it will work on its information.
More Security and Speed
Businesses had a tough time adopting the cloud because of compliance and security concerns. But as you may expect, the solution lies with edge computing. Personal and confidential company information will be processed locally instead of sending it to the cloud. Although data is processed quickly to and from the cloud, latency problems still exist. For various reasons we have highlighted, edge computing will have faster response times.
