In other to solve the problem of latency, bandwidth cost as well as getting data at real-time, edge computing technology is being introduced. Since 5G wireless connection as well as the rise in internet connected devices (IoT) has become a part of our daily lives, it is important to make information/data close to the source where it is produced and needed instead of sending it to a central data storage location.
The distributed computing topology that allows the processing of information at the edge close to the source of production and usage.
In other not to cause latency related issues in device application performance due to the time to wait for data to get into the application, this technology is important. It is no doubt that many internet connected devices (IoT) gather data from as well as deliver data to the cloud but recently, as humans demand for data increases and humans keep generating data, so does the IoT devices now generate data exponentially during the cause of operation. With the days of only mobile phones and computers transmitting data it was fairly okay but with the recent growth in technology, almost everything transmit data from refrigerator, cooker, television, umbrellas, cars, even pens at the same time, it should be certain that there will be latency problem which will reduce the quality and time of the data reaching the cloud or getting data from the cloud also, the price for bandwidth will be expensive.
With edge computing, hardware devices become local source to process and to store information. They serve as a gateway between the device sending the data and the cloud. The edge devices process the data around the location where it is created or needed and only send relevant data to the cloud. Edge devices includes IoT sensors, computers, smartphones, security cameras and anything that is internet enabled.
just like it is expected that there will always be a downside to every new technology, edge computing has its own downsides. One of the major downsides to edge computing technology is privacy and security. Since the data are stored in local systems, it could be prone to hackers who could utilize data for criminal purposes. Another downside of edge computing is availability of power, and network connectivity in the edge device.
