By J.J. Kardwell, CEO at Vultr
As the rise of edge computing continues, many
have seen the numerous applications and benefits it provides the industry
firsthand. However, the lingering question remains: just how much of a threat
is edge computing to the cloud? Is it possible that edge computing and the
cloud can work together to give businesses the most comprehensive approach to
infrastructure?
Here's what we know:
Edge Computing vs. Cloud Computing
Depending on workload,
there can be several benefits to utilizing edge computing over the cloud. According to Automation World's 2021 Cloud &
Edge survey, adoption of edge and fog computing technologies significantly
increased since pre-pandemic. The survey saw edge computing deployments rise to
55% as compared to 43% in 2019. This
increase may be due to companies seeing the full effect of the edge, as it
provides efficient run times for apps and better performance across the board
if several devices are being used at once.
These benefits may be
deemed extremely helpful for use cases in the gaming industry. With real-time
multiplayer gaming, users are extremely sensitive to latency. In a multiplayer
game, there is an increased demand for immediate response times, which edge
computing can provide regardless of where the players are streaming from around
the globe. By bringing players to the edge, this gives the enhanced real-time
experience with minimal interruptions or lag that many players are looking for.
The healthcare industry
is also perfect for many edge computing use cases, including the ability to
process data locally to maintain data privacy. Currently, many monitoring
devices store data on a third-party cloud that presents security concerns. Edge
computing relays real-time notifications on patient behavior and health trends
straight to practitioners, which could help to better serve their patients and
provide a better experience overall.
However, there are a few
instances where the cloud does have principal advantages over traditional edge
computing. In fact, Automation World's 2021 Cloud & Edge survey
also found that 62% of companies are currently leveraging cloud technologies as
part of their digital transformation strategy, an 11% increase from 2019.
Today, cloud computing
and storage provide, for all intents and purposes, "unlimited" scale and
capabilities to help users with their digital transformation strategies. Cloud
computing has a robust ecosystem of industry-standard software that can be
leveraged to build sophisticated applications. It can also help users to access
their stored data faster and more efficiently, all while eliminating the need
to house or maintain a physical server. On the other hand, edge platforms today
are often proprietary applications that require purpose-built apps.
Can There Be An Edge-To-Cloud Transformation?
Traditional edge computing has been known to
accelerate and distribute content and apps, working to improve availability and
performance. Since its inception, edge computing has always been complementary
to cloud computing.
The next generation use cases for edge
computing continue to increase the demand for cloud computing, a classic
example being autonomous vehicles. These vehicles
are edge computing devices that transfer data to centralized cloud
infrastructures for training of deep learning models. Cloud services then
transfer the trained model back to the edge compute systems on the autonomous
vehicles. The edge and cloud compute services work together to create a unified
solution that would not be possible without the capabilities of the other.
Although edge and cloud computing work together in most cases, we are
continuing to see a blurred line between the two.
Instead of the edge and
cloud competing against one another, these two computing methods should work
together as the foundation for entirely new kinds of applications. It's this
"best of both worlds" approach that will enable a whole new generation of
applications, with unprecedented functionality, performance, and reliability.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
J.J. Kardwell is the CEO of Vultr and has over 20 years of
experience in the SaaS, IaaS, and technology industries. At Vultr, J.J. is
responsible for providing strategic leadership and optimizing the company's
overall performance.