What is Edge?

Edge refers to the computing structure near to the source of data. In simple words, Edge is the point from where the data will be delivered or processed.Edge computing in IoT will elevate traditional IoT.

What is edge computing?

Gartner defines edge computing as “a part of a distributed computing topology in which information processing is located close to the edge – where things and people produce or consume that information.” Its nothing but “Think Globally,Act Locally“

The growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) and the success of cloud services have pushed the horizon of a new computing paradigm.Edge computing, which calls for processing the data at the edge of the network. Building a successful IoT solution depends on the tens of billions of devices that sit at the edge, in our homes and offices,

What Are Edge Devices?

Any device which produces data can be an edge device.It could be sensors, industrial machines, routers, WANs, switch, etc.

They will act as small data centers that are able to communicate important information with each other.

But why Edge Computing?

Good question! Why do we even need Edge Computing? What are the advantages of having this new infrastructure?

Imagine a case of a self-driving car where the car is sending a live data continuously to the central servers. Now, the car has to take a crucial decision. The consequences can be disastrous ,if the car waits for the central servers to process the data and respond back to it.

•  Ability to process and store data faster(low latency)
• Cost-effective Data Processing Solution
• Security At The Highest Level
• The system is capable to work even when disconnected to cloud servers.
• It ensures privacy by avoiding sending all raw data to be stored and processed on cloud servers.

Current scope:

Edge Computing will not just increase efficiency and security it will enhance growth a cost-effectively. Now industries are using cloud storage as a primary data collector where all types of low and high frequencies are measured. This high-frequency captures will increase data burden and create complications in data analyzing.

Instead of sending high-frequency data to cloud storage, IoT gateway act as computing nod and analyze data locally by using Edge computing. Edge computing offers better memory storage solutions according to the future needs of the industry. Making automated devices more sufficient, effective and most importantly more responsive.

On-device artificial intelligence:

Increasing edge computing capabilities in voice-enabled gadgets also support innovative features using on-device artificial intelligence (AI).

This feature is already widely available in smartphones, helping users to set alarms and reminders even if the device is in airplane mode or out of coverage.

 Offline commands are particularly valuable in smart home settings .Letting users turn lights on and off, change thermostat temperature or disable the home security alarm even during an internet service outage. This is possible with Edge Computing.

Some of the most popular use cases of Edge Computing are:

• Autonomous vehicles
• Fleet management
• Predictive maintenance
• Voice assistant
• Healthcare

Top Companies Using Edge Computing:

• Amazon
• Dropbox
• General Electric

Forms of edge computing:

Device Edge:

In this model, Edge Computing is taken to the customers in the existing environments. For example, AWS Greengrass and Microsoft Azure IoT Edge.

Cloud Edge:

It is basically extension of public cloud.Content Delivery Networks are classic examples of this topology in which the static content is cached and delivered through a geographically spread edge locations.

Edge computing is much more than simply redistributing data to the endpoints. There is no denying that it will enable businesses to perform advanced analytics in new ways. The rise in the localized data centers may make it easier for organizations to expand their network reach.

Considering the ongoing research and developments in AI and 5G connectivity technologies, and the rising demand for smart industrial IoT applications, Edge Computing may reach maturity faster than expected. If you’re keen to improve your knowledge in edge computing,