Will Edge Computing Take Over Cloud Computing in the Future?

Edge computing is a network concept, philosophy, and topological idea that focuses on transforming the way organizations handle data and does the computation. It helps bring the processing and storage closer to the source of the data creation for better performance, instant response, and to eliminate latency. 

In other words, edge computing targets to leverage a few operations on the cloud and bring it closer to local places where the process is actually happening, i.e., on the edge of the technology - and hence the name. Minimizing long-distance communication reduces bandwidth use and helps various technologies respond to events promptly. 

Edge computing originated through the content distributed networks (CDN) in the late 90s, where edge servers got deployed closer to the users to cater to web & video content at high speed. In the early 2000s, this concept gave rise to the first commercial edge computing service. With the exponential growth of IoT devices and instant data-driven actions from these devices, the use of edge computing also spiked up. 

For almost all companies, cost-saving with high reliability and speed on technical services becomes their prime requirement. Companies that entirely rouse and embrace cloud computing for various services discovered that their bandwidth cost remains higher than expected. They can also experience a delay in the performance of cloud-based systems. This is where edge computing can come to the rescue. Here is a list of benefits that edge computing can deliver to businesses.

Minimize Latency

Latency in the network or delay in data transmission occurs mainly when multiple interconnected network systems and data sources remain at large distances. By leveraging edge computing, enterprises can decrease the latency for different devices as the data processing device remains closer to the data storage center. 

Various modern systems like autonomous vehicles, fire alert systems, IoT systems in animal husbandry, and numerous sensor-based works in manufacturing systems require immediate action. A slight delay (in milliseconds) in response can cause massive trouble in such a system. That is where edge computing can play a significant role (by minimizing latency) and saving the day.

Reducing Operational Costs and Increasing Performance

Data storage cost have escalated significantly in the past few decades because of the advent of large storage devices and cloud computing. With the increase in volume of data the cost of transferring data from one storage center to the other multiply. As the data volume spikes, companies require more bandwidth to transfer these data for storage, processing, and dynamic analysis. Edge computing can regulate this unnecessary bandwidth utilization and increase the performance.

Highly Scalable

Because of cloud computing, enterprises can also incorporate different types of edge devices like computational, storage, etc., to expand the functional spectrum & remain close to one another for performing more effectively as and when required. Additionally, adding edge devices and endpoint hardware components makes the entire upgrade less costly than leveraging centralized data centers.

More Privacy and Security 

Through edge computing, enterprises can enhance the privacy and security of the data and corporate information by keeping it close to the edge or end-devices and not in the centralized servers. Since edge computing works closely with IoT devices, they might be vulnerable to cyber threats and physical hacking. 

But with adequate protection measures and robust encryption techniques, businesses can protect the system from malicious threats. Furthermore, edge devices preserve a limited amount of user data or identity, so stealing this data won't add much value for cybercriminals.

There are a lot of scenarios and characteristics that differentiate the edge from the cloud. Here is a list of some noteworthy differences between both of these technologies.

Although edge computing has advantages over cloud computing, it would be impractical to say that edge computing will replace or take over cloud computing. There will likely be a situation where edge computing companies will need central processing and storage requirements with utter flexibility that runs autonomously. For optimal functioning, both technologies will coexist & provide tremendous help to the enterprise ecosystem. 

Instead, we can say that edge computing will act as a response or cover-up to all the shortcomings of cloud technology while inheriting some of its benefits. The choice between opting between any one of these or both these techs simultaneously depends entirely on the type of business and the situation the service or the product demands within the organization. 

Learn more about cloud computing from Coursera's Cloud Computing Foundations course.

• Explore the concepts and learn more about edge computing through edX's Business Considerations for Edge Computing course.
• Learn more about the differences between cloud and edge through this WebAssembly Actors course by edX.
• With Pluralsight's Developing Microsoft Azure Intelligent Edge Solutions course, learn the basics of edge computing and how it interacts with data and messaging systems.