In a world of stupendous connection of systems and devices, and with data generation rate of 2.5 quintillion bytes per day and which may grow to 463 exabytes per day by 2025, it makes sense to take the compute to where the data is, i.e., to the edge.
Gartner defines edge computing as a group of systems that enhance data processing at or near the source of data generation. Any set of solutions that need to respond quickly to user requests or events are candidates for edge deployment. These include autonomous vehicles, industrial process control, and even digital distribution of streaming content.
In this post, we will delve into edge computing and the requirements in the age of the internet of things and also its relationship to the cloud,
Why Do We Need The Edge?
This is becoming like a cycle of technology trends. We started with centralized mainframes to distributed computing which gave birth to personal computers and servers. Then we moved to cloud, a centralized shared infrastructure for scaling as the business grows. And now we are back to distributed computing, this time at the “edge.”
Artificial intelligence (AI) solutions, like facial recognition check-ins at a city mall, self-driving cars, expert advice apps in healthcare, or digital distribution of streaming video, require a large amount of historical data to build a learning repository, which is evidently ideal for cloud data center processing while the operation of the resultant model which need quick response indicating a decision or a course of action involves system at the edge.
In view of the furgoing, its is important that the network infrastructure between the target points; data centre, cloud and mobile need to be fast to accommodate the large data that need to be moved in between the different targets.
This is where 5Gi networks come in! The 5G serves the low latency requirement of edge computing and an essential component of the Network Edge Compute (NEC). In an Enterprise Network Edge Compute (NEC) networks take care of the communication flow of data between device requests and provision of actionable decision systems which requires high bandwidth and low latency, well-suited for real-time applications.
Use Case 1: Digital Distribution of Streaming Content
The Content Delivery Networks (CDN) plays an important role in the use of edge computing to improve user experience by providing fast response to user requests on streaming content. Most streaming content service providers are able to achieve an effective point of presence using third party CDN infrastructure Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) or Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
The edge nodes store groups of contents which are expected to be requested by the target community of interest and feedback update are fed to the cloud. When a request is made by a consumer, the edge system determines the nearest node to the consumer, and the device is directed to it. The edge nodes are often updated with information related to predicted future content consumption so that they are up to date and ready for new streaming requests.
