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What is Cloud Computing and what is Edge Computing: defidefinitions and differences

We live in the era of cloud computing, but also the ' edge computing is slowly coming into the spotlight. Edge devices, edge services, edge networking, and edge computing architecture – they're all connected to moving processes to the edge, and we're hearing about it more and more.

But what is the reason for the growing popularity of these solutions? What Makes Edge Computing Important? How does edge computing work? What sets it apart from cloud computing? And does the growing popularity of edge computing systems mean that cloud computing has lost its momentum?

 
Cloud computing in a nutshell

Cloud computing has been in the news for many years now. During this time, he has transformed the lives of virtually everyone, be it the average Internet user, the owner of a small or medium-sized business or a giant manager of an international company.

In short, cloud computing means offering on-demand access to computing resources (such as physical and virtual servers, development tools, applications, data storage, and network capacity) over the Internet. To make the long story even shorter, cloud computing can be defifinished the provision of various online services.

Cloud solutions are meant to store, archive, backup, retrieve and process data from a huge number of devices on a centralized server. There are several types of cloud environments for hosting data. The most important cloud deployment models are:

  • Private cloud : cloud environment and compute resources managed exclusively for a single end user
  • Public cloud - Cloud services provided by a public internet cloud service provider
  • Hybrid cloud - a combination of public cloud and private computing resources

Advantages and disadvantages of cloud computing

Highlights of cloud computing cover:

  • unlimited storage capacity
  • backup and restore enabled
  • excellent accessibility
  • cost efficiency, without any initial investment in infrastructure

On the negative side:

  • There are some risks associated with using a public cloud and sharing sensitive data with third-party service providers
  • cloud users have limited control of the infrastructure
  • A good Internet connection is required to access the data
  • transferring data from one provider to another can be difficult 
 
Edge computing in brief

Source data processing is what sets edge computing apart from other data storage and computing solutions and differentiates it from using the cloud. 

In short, edge computing it means processing data (with an edge device) in real time near the data source.

There are hundreds of edge computing providers on the market, including Google Cloud, Dell Technologies, Intel, Huawei, Ericsson, Cisco, Deutsche Telekom, Lenovo, Nokia, Tata Communications, and Vodafone. Amazon's AWS edge computing, Microsoft edge computing, and IBM Azure edge computing are some of the major services in use in this area.

Edge computing enables companies to reduce transmission costs, which is a significant advantage in the turbulent times we live in. Organizations can save money thanks to the small volumes of data that have to be moved and therefore to the reduced bandwidth.

Pros and cons of edge computing

There are many benefits of edge computing. Some of them include:

  • reduced network latency
  • increase in network performance
  • improvement of service times
  • complete and timely processing of data, with possible processing of data in real time

What might be less beneficial, however, is that with edge computing:

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  • more storage capacity is required
  • the initial investment can be significant
  • an advanced infrastructure is required, with local hardware
  • processing power is low 
 
Edge vs cloud computing

Both edge and cloud computing have their pros and cons, specific use cases and certain risks. In some cases, edge computing can be considered more secure than cloud computing since internet connection is not always required in its case. And because edge computing can reduce network dependency, concerns about quality or service continuity, typical of cloud computing, are reduced. 

However, it's not all that simple, and edge computing can be definished “a double-edged sword for privacy”, with the possibility of leave personal data more exposed . In turn, cloud computing, especially private cloud, can provide a significant and sufficient level of control over security risks.

Additional differences between edge computing and cloud computing:

CLOUD COMPUTINGEDGE COMPUTING
SystemSingle point of storageDistributed
CoverageGlobalLocal
PrivacyWell protectedRaising concerns
WarehousingampleLimited
Computing powerHighLow
Use casesArchiving of files and dataAutomate workloads
Serverless computingHealthcare and medical applications (patient monitoring)
Video streaming platformsTraffic management
Data processingFinance Fraud Detection
Data backupImprovement of workplace safety
Archiving of dataSelf-driving cars
Emergency recoveryIndustrial process monitoring
Virtual desktopsVirtual and augmented reality
Big Data AnalysisStreaming video optimization
Software development and testingImproved push notifications: can be customized for particular users with minimal delay
Social network
Required network bandwidthHuge amountA small amount or none

In short, within the edge computing model, data is processed and stored more local and closer to equipment. In turn, cloud computing takes the opposite approach to edge computing, enabling data storage in a more centralized way.

 
Edge and cloud computing: prospects for the future

Edge computing shouldn't be treated as the next stage in the history of computing, but rather as something complementary to what the cloud offers, one of the key developments or trends in this area. In definitive, these two systems can be used in different use cases, with centralized data (cloud solutions) or decentralized data (cloud computing)

The future looks bright for edge computing, thanks to its versatility and usefulness. It is used everywhere, in a large number of use cases and industries. Smart homes that rely heavily on IoT devices are just one of the leading and everyday examples here. But surely the cloud is also here to stay: we can't imagine today's world without the accessibility of cloud resources, storing files within it, and restoring it when needed, as well as social networking platforms that rely heavily too. on cloud services.

Ercole Palmeri: Innovation addicted

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