Introduction
With most discussions about the future of computing revolving around the cloud, it’s easy to forget that there’s another end of the spectrum that’s equally intriguing — edge computing. While cloud computing solutions are popular and well-received, they do have some downsides, like slow connections or high costs. Cloud services also mean that businesses give up their data to be stored and processed elsewhere. But what if there were other alternatives? Let’s take a closer look at five edge computing trends that you should keep an eye on in 2022 and beyond.
1) What is an Edge Server?
An edge server is any computer that is not in a data centre, but rather closer to the point of use, such as a retail store or a customer’s home. It is also called an edge device. The edge server provides the necessary processing power and storage space for applications that are deployed at the edge of an organization’s network.
2) Benefits of Edge Computing
Edge computing offers a number of benefits, such as:
- It reduces the time it takes for data to reach the cloud by removing intermediary steps in the process.
- It eliminates bottlenecks that can occur when more people use a system than originally anticipated.
- Edge computing provides a solution for storing sensitive data on devices while still allowing access from remote servers.
- It allows companies to design hardware solutions that are specific to their needs rather than relying on generic solutions.
- Edge computing has less reliance on cloud infrastructure and can work independently of one another if needed.
3) Challenges in building and managing an edge network
There are a lot of challenges in building and managing an edge network. This is because there are many different things that could go wrong, such as natural disasters or theft. A company needs to have redundancy for when something goes wrong so that it can still be functional. One way they could do this is by storing the data on multiple servers and even encrypting them so that no one but authorized users would be able to access them. Companies also need to make sure they have plenty of backups in case any kind of disaster happens like earthquakes, storms or fires which will destroy their servers. Other ways they might want to secure their data would be by having guards at each location who can inspect the storage containers at any time, and securing the containers themselves with locks. These are just some examples of what companies should keep in mind when designing their edge networks.
4) How Artificial Intelligence can optimize your data centre operations
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the next frontier in optimizing data centre operations. By analyzing and learning from past actions, AI can automate routine tasks and improve decision-making. Furthermore, AI allows for more efficient use of resources by predicting future needs. This is possible because AI can make sense of vast amounts of data that would be too complex for humans. One example is how Amazon uses AI to predict which products will sell well before they are ordered or delivered. As a result, it places items in locations where they are most likely to be ordered or delivers them ahead of time, thus ensuring customers receive their products as fast as possible.
5) How Fog Computing Can Help Deliver Applications at the Speed of Light
Fog computing is an extension of cloud computing that leverages the edge of the network, where data can be processed, stored, and analyzed much faster. This provides a significant advantage over traditional cloud computing models that deliver applications at a much slower pace. You can think of fog computing as putting your computer at the end of your router’s Ethernet cable instead of in front of it or on top of it, for example, which is what happens with traditional cloud computing. The result is that you can get information from your computer to the internet and back in seconds rather than minutes or even hours.
Conclusion
The forecasts for edge computing are certainly optimistic, but it remains to be seen how these trends will play out in reality. Hopefully, the coming years will bring even more innovation as developers find new ways to solve business problems and make IT easier to maintain.
