The Edge and The Cloud

Edge computing comes in many flavors.

In basic terms, though, it’s about pushing computing power closer to where it is actually being used by the end user.

Think cellular technology on towers and infrastructure deployed at retail stores to support operations on-site rather than through headquarters.

Among the benefits this close proximity offers are reduced latency and reliability. To unpack these two a bit:

Reduced latency

Some applications perform better with the computing power being closer to the end user.

Take for example, video games.

Today’s gaming consoles are usually connected to the cloud in some form, which means in a competitive multiplayer match, the player is pressing buttons on the controller, that controller is talking to the console, and that console is communicating with the cloud.

If the latency is high for the player, then the game falls out of sync. By having the infrastructure (console) near the player, you help ensure that latency is reduced as much as possible.

Reliability

Everything fails at some point. When it’s something like the connectivity to the backend of your cloud service, the results can be disastrous.

Think of a restaurant relying on POS systems. If that POS requires a constant connection to the cloud provider and that connection fails, the restaurant will probably close up for the night.

Edge technology solves this potential problem by placing the necessary infrastructure for POS transactions inside the store itself so if the connection fails, the doors can stay open.

Cloud native apps and the edge 

Despite being centered around proximity, the edge and cloud computing actually play quite well with each other.

Applications that are cloud-native—which is to say, apps built on cloud development principles like containers and microservices—are still beneficial to edge computing. They can also make edge solutions much more dynamic.

How so? As with cloud-native apps that are actually in a cloud environment, those running at the edge are able to be developed, iterated upon, and deployed at an accelerated rate.

This not only reduces the time it takes for new features to be launched, it improves the overall quality of the application for the end users since fixes and updates can be made swiftly.

Additionally, when connections are lost between the edge and the cloud—which is always a possibility—those applications at the edge remain up to date and functional.

Did you know you can optimize your operations, reduce costs, and deliver better experiences for your customers with edge solutions? Learn more in our white paper Taking it to the Edge. Get your free copy now.