Edge Computing 101: Why Is Edge Computing Gaining Immense Popularity?

Edge computing is changing the way information from thousands of sensors all over the world is treated, analyzed, and distributed. The exponential growth of Internet-connected devices such as, IoT, continues to drive edge-computing technologies along with new applications that involve real-time computing resources.

What is Edge Computing? 

Gartner describes edge computing as “an aspect of a distributed computing geometry in which the processing of information is placed close to the edge where information is generated or consumed by items and people.” Edge Computing at the simplest level puts computing and data storage closer to the computers where it is processed, instead of depending on a single location that may be thousands of miles distant. This is done so that information, especially real-time data, does not suffer from latency problems that can impact the output of an application. 

Furthermore, enterprises can save money by doing local computing, minimizing the volume of data that has to be stored in a centralized or cloud-based venue. Due to the explosive growth of IoT devices that link to the internet to either collect information from the cloud or send data back to the cloud, Edge computing has been developed. And throughout their activities, many IoT devices produce massive volumes of data.

Think of sensors on a factory floor tracking production machines or an internet-connected video camera that sends live videos from a remote location. Although it can be very efficiently distributed through a network by a single computer processing data, issues occur as the number of devices sending data at the same time increases. Multiply it by hundreds or thousands of cameras, instead of one video camera broadcasting live videos.

By becoming a local source of processing and storage for many of these applications, Edge-computing hardware and services help solve this issue. For instance, an edge gateway will process data from an edge computer and then send back only the necessary data through the cloud, minimizing bandwidth needs. Or, in the situation of real-time application needs, it can submit data back to the edge unit. Such edge sensors can involve several different items, such as an IoT sensor, the laptop pr computer of an employee, their new tablet, the surveillance camera, or even just the office break room’s internet-connected microwave. Under an interface-computing infrastructure, edge gateways are called edge computers.

Future of Edge Computing

According to the consulting firm Gartner, the promise of edge computing is exceedingly high. Two years ago, the organization estimated that a whopping 75 percent of enterprise data would be produced and stored at “the edge” by 2025. Put another way, most enterprise data could escape the cloud in 5 years. That being said, edge computing is already in its infancy and is not yet entirely equipped for prime time. The Gartner report acknowledged as much, noting that in 2018, only 10 percent of market data was produced and analyzed at the edge. A variety of technical issues may need to be solved for “the edge” to become as prevalent as “the cloud” in the technology sector. 

These include the invention of lightweight computers with outsized computing capacity, the production of applications that allow businesses to remotely track and upgrade an infinite range of edge devices from around the globe, and modern security technologies and protocols to keep it secure. Many businesses, including Red Hat, Nutanix, and Cloudera, all of which have developed their edge technologies, are aggressively trying to solve these issues. To understand what the future holds for edge computing and what it would take to realize it, we recently met with senior leaders at each level.

Top Trends of Edge Computing

There are several trends technical experts should keep a watch on in the coming year as edge computing develops into a more realistic and possibly game-changing alternative for enterprise IT organizations:

1. The Cloud will Move to the Edge

“Cloud service providers have stood behind the message for the last decade that everything and everything is on a cloud road,” says Dave McCarthy, a research analyst in the global infrastructure practise of IDC who focuses on edge strategies. They provided hybrid architectures to be a temporary bridge between on-site and cloud data centres.

2. 5G Delays are Likely to Occur

5 G networking eventually arrived after years of build-up when this fifth generation of wireless communication was introduced last year by the major wireless providers in several U.S. locations. Due to COVID-19 constraints, there would be a pause in further growth. IT leaders should be aware of 5 G development, “says Seth Robinson, CompTIA’s senior director of technology research,” but architecture solutions that optimize edge computing may happen with current infrastructure.

3. Next-Generation Networks are Coming Back to Earth

It’s a wonderful development, but 5 G is no magic bullet, as many IT leaders would know 5 G expands the foundation on which apps are created. In some cases, this will allow new applications to be developed, but in many cases, it will simply help existing applications to function better, says Robinson of CompTIA.

4. Edge will Breathe Life Into All the Data from the IoT

In pursuit of new market insights, companies have been investing in IoT. Nevertheless, “most underestimated the amount of data that connected devices can create and how difficult it is to distinguish significant data from the chaff,” says McCarthy of IDC.

Applications of Edge Computing

Edge Computing can also be used to drive software, data, and resources to the logical ends of a network away from centralized hubs. Besides, it requires analytics and the age of knowledge to exist in the database. For instance, Wireless Sensor Networks, Circulated Knowledge Stockpiling, Virtual Reality, and the sky are the limit from there. Edge Computing encompasses a broad variety of technology.

1. Smart Cities

The architecture of Edge Computing makes it workable for utilities monitoring devices and other public agencies to adapt in real-time to changing circumstances. Smart cities will transform how people live and use advantages in an urban environment, together with the number of autonomous cars and the ever-growing Internet of Things.

Since all Edge Computing apps rely on data collection gadgets to conduct essential processing tasks, the city will be able to adapt gradually to changing circumstances as they arise in the days ahead.

2. Configuring

By joining data storage and registration of industrial machinery, manufacturers may collect information that will consider the more critical operation and necessity suitability, helping them to reduce costs and usage of requirements thus maintaining greater constancy and valuable availability Also, Savvy manufacturing systems instructed by constant data variation and review will allow organizations to adjust development races to meet buyer requirements all the more likely.

3. Healthcare

Rather than connecting with medium and scattered databases, healthcare providers can access vital data about their patients constantly with IoT gadgets suitable for providing enormous quantities of Patient-generated Health Information (PGHD). Medical instruments themselves may also be made during diagnosis or treatment to collect and process details.

4. Augmented Reality Devices

Wearable AR products such as glasses and headphones are often used to achieve this effect, but through their mobile phone screens, most consumers have experienced AR. The creativity underlying AR expects systems to constantly process visual data and enter pre-rendered visual components. This visual knowledge would be transmitted back to oriented cloud storage without edge computing architecture, where the digital elements could be inserted before sending it back to the gadget. Critical latency will eventually bring on this plan of action.

To minimize latency and bandwidth usage, Edge computing is a networking concept based on getting computation as close to the data source as possible. Edge computing, in simpler terms, involves running fewer cloud operations and transferring those operations to local sites, such as on the computer of a customer, an IoT system, or an edge server. Bringing computing to the edge of the network minimizes the amount of long-distance contact between a client and server that needs to exist.

Also read- Edge Computing Technology