Edge Computing

Edge Computing is a buzzword such as cloud, IoT, and Artificial Intelligence. Simply saying, Edge Computing brings the decentralization of networks. Edge Computing is the upcoming enhancement and advancement in technology. The literal meaning of the word 'Edge' is the geographic location on the planet to deliver services in a distributed manner. Edge Computing is a distributed computing system that allows to bring computation of data and storage too close to the source (where data is required). It brings computing as much close as possible so as to minimize the bandwidth, improve response time, and use of latency. Instead of locating the data at a centralized place, the concept of edge computing believes in distributing the computing process of the data. However, cloud computing and IoT are faster plus efficient, but edge computing is a more faster computing method. The objective of Edge Computing is to improve the network technology by moving the computation of data close to the edge of the network and away from the data centers. Such a process exploits network gateways or smart objects for performing tasks and provide services on behalf of the cloud. As it is well-known that per day data is produced in a huge amount that makes its computation difficult and complicated to be handled by the data centers. Also, the network bandwidth limit almost gets exhausted, and response time increase highly. So, when moving computation and data services in the hands of edge computing, it is possible to provide efficient service delivery, better data storage, and IoT management that could minimize the response time and transfer rate of data. With the 5G data network, it has enabled to converge 5G data network and edge technologies within reach. Thus, Edge Computing reduces the long-distance processing and slow communication of the data.

Challenges in Edge Computing

There are the following issues and challenges that take place in Edge Computing:

Privacy and Security of Data:

It is the new change and enhancement in technology, and so there should be change and enhancement in the privacy and security feature also. According to advanced security schemes of cloud computing, "different encryption mechanisms should be introduced because few encryption methods are being used for encrypting the data, but before reaching to the cloud, data transit may take place between different distributed nodes that are connected via the internet". Also, it needs a shift to decentralized infrastructure from the centralized, top-down model.

Scalability:

Edge Computing is based on a distributed network, and scalability becomes a challenge for such a distributed network-facing several issues.

Reliability:

Such a feature is a very challenging task for every technology and so for edge computing. For handling service from certain failovers, its management is required, which is very crucial. As edge computing relies on a distributed network, so if a single nodes fail or unable to reach, still the users must be able to avail the service without any disturbance. Also, the edge computing must be able to alert the user about the failure node and must provide actions to recover from the failure. For this, each device should maintain the network topology of the whole distributed system that will make the detection of errors and its recovery easy to process. Other than this, the connection technology in use may provide different reliability levels and data accuracy produced at the edge that could be unreliable because of the environmental conditions.

Speed:

Edge computing should be able to provide speed services to the end-users as it brings analytical, computational resources near to the source (end users), and it leads to fast communication. Such a modern system will automatically outperform the cloud computing system, which is a traditional system. So, maintenance of good speed is also a challenging task for edge computing.

Efficiency:

The efficiency of the edge computing becomes better because the availability of the analytical tools is too close to the end-users, and due to this, AI tools and analytical tools which are sophisticated can possibly execute on the edge of the system. Such a platform improves and increases operational efficiency and thus provides several benefits to the system.

Why Edge Computing

Edge Computing is a new type of technology that will not only save time but also save the cost of servicing and other charges too. There are the following reasons that will answer the question:

1. Through edge computing, it allows smart applications and devices for responding to data very quickly as soon as it is created and thus removing the lag time.
2. Edge Computing also enables data stream acceleration that includes real-time processing of data without latency use. Data Stream acceleration is, however, critical for self-driving cars type of technologies and provides equal and vital benefits for the businesses.
3. Efficient processing of data at large scale by allowing processing close to the source, and it saves the use of internet bandwidth also. Thus, it reduces the cost and enables effective accessibility to the applications in remote locations.
4. The ability of edge computing to provide services and processing data at the furthest distance makes a secured layer for the sensitive data without keeping it into a public cloud.

Benefits of Edge Computing