Edge Computing: Decentralised Cloud / Intelligent IoT
Image Source: https://www.vology.com/resource/benefits-of-edge-computing/
Imagine a world where all the devices around you are connected to a central cloud. Your smart glasses capture the data in an augmented reality environment helping you train and learn a new skill, such as skiing. Also, the smart watch on your wrist monitors your escalated heartbeat while you engage in this exhilarating act.
Image Source: https://www.fastmetrics.com/blog/tech/what-is-cloud-computing/
Now, visualise there are another millions of people doing what you are doing simultaneously. You can estimate the amount and variety of data that would be created by the second. This process will put immense load on the public cloud infrastructure.
Add to this heady mix, a group of savvy hackers trying to breach the security of this cloud-based server. Your data, along with that of several others can be hacked by a single person with the relevant expertise. This scenario seems much scarier than one mentioned earlier, doesn’t it?
This description tries to highlight the deficiencies of having a centralized cloud, which will become increasingly difficult to manage with the splurge of Internet of Things (IoT). The transmission of data to and from these IoT devices is time-consuming and in certain cases this latency may be highly dangerous, just think of autonomous cars.
However, these issues may be avoided if there were private clouds made available at the ‘edge’ of these devices. These clouds will have the same capability as a public cloud but will be much faster due to proximity. Also, because they will be decentralized throughout the ecosystem it deters the hackers as breaching into every device will require a lot of effort and bandwidth.
This is the entire concept behind what is called ‘edge computing’, which enables the IoT devices to be linked with cloud at proximity. With the proliferation of IoT devices, increasing computing power, and faster 5G networks edge computing is a blossoming reality. At its core, edge computing is decentralization of cloud-based capabilities at a large scale thereby making IoT devices ‘intelligent’.
Edge computing isn’t science fiction anymore as several organizations such as Amazon and Cisco have developed edge computing software and analytics capabilities through AWS IoT Greengrass and Cisco IoX platform respectively.
Source: https://www.winsystems.com/cloud-fog-and-edge-computing-whats-the-difference/
While the notion of edge computing gains traction, it is important to distinguish it from fog computing, which is sometimes loosely used interchangeably with the former. The difference between the two is in the location of intelligence and computing power. While fog computing is in the local area network (LAN) edge computing places intelligence and processing power at the endpoint/edge of devices.
Benefits
This decentralization of cloud capabilities at the edge of devices provides for several benefits over conventional cloud computing.
- Latency- Edge computing reduces the latency of communication between the cloud and the connected device and helps in quicker transmission of data making real-time communication possible. This speed becomes especially important in domains that require speed of processing for example, videogaming.
- Security- Also, edge computing infrastructure may be more secure than a centralized cloud owing to the decentralized infrastructure that ensures that a single denial of service attack doesn’t cripple the entire cloud and is limited to the edge device, which could also be made more secure through more robust end-point security measures.
- Scalability- This technology will especially be supportive for start-ups as they can scale up without investing in costly IT infrastructure.
- Privacy- Because the data is shared at the edge of devices, the private information isn’t shared with a public cloud thereby ensuring privacy for individuals.
- Reliability-The edge computing will be more reliable for retrieving information and ensure a better consumer experience given fickle attention spans in millennials and Gen-Z.
Associated Risks & Cybersecurity
Its several benefits aside, some scholars believe that because of its very nature, edge computing puts the core computing networks at risk since IoTs are not designed with security in mind and it may be easy to breach the security firewalls of these systems and penetrate the core system with which this IoT may be connected. While this is no doubt a very pertinent risk, implementing edge computing in no way means being lax on the security front. Ensuring security of edge computing architecture through firewalls or anti-malware applications is essential. In fact, any organization envisaging implementing edge computing should be engaging security experts to conduct penetration testing to assess the security lags.
Applications & Business case for Edge computing
As per a McKinsey consulting study, edge computing represents a potential value of $175 billion to $215 billion in hardware by 2025. This study also illustrates close to 107 use cases of edge computing spanning several industries including banking, agriculture, transportation, energy, healthcare, and retail, to name a few. Some of the possible applications that I could fathom for this technology are as mentioned below:
- Gaming industry demands increasing computing power and lower latency owing to rich media graphics and online gaming proliferation to create a rich consumer experience.
- Wearable tech such as apple watches and Nike Polar WearLink require real-time transmission and thus can benefit from edge computing.
- Autonomous vehicles, especially if Uber were to adopt them. With Uber’s scale there will be snowballing latency issues which would need to be addressed with edge devices.
- Household appliances such as mixer, thermostat, home security could also be potential applications as IoT devices proliferate.
Thus, edge computing opens a host of innovation opportunities for those vigilant enough to unveil and leverage them. The most telling impact of edge computing will be decentralization of power, currently concentrated in a few dominant cloud providers such as AWS, Azure, and Google. Thus, it will enable small and medium-sized businesses to leverage the capabilities afforded by IoT devices. The future definitely looks brighter at the edge!
References:
https://blog.wei.com/top-5-benefits-of-edge-computing
https://www.vxchnge.com/blog/the-5-best-benefits-of-edge-computing
https://www.postscapes.com/iot-edge-computing-software/
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