Benefits and Drawbacks of Edge Computing Today

Edge computing can process data right at its source. What it means is that, unlike cloud computing infrastructure, edge computing eliminates the need to rely on far-off data centers. Improving technology at the backend enables faster and more thorough data processing that allows the latest devices to perform edge computing right there.

For example, you may install a security camera to capture footage of a unit. But what really happens is that you may have to go through the entire null footage that shows nothing happening for hours and hours.

However, you may be able to recover valuable insights in case of an incident. Still, it will require you to go through the entire footage of your CCTV. Conversely, edge computing analyzes and produces images that may reveal more about a certain situation in the case of CCTV. Hence, it may prioritize what requires greater attention.

Key Benefits

Security

Cloud computing can fall victim to cyberattacks and hackers, and with valuable information, it is highly risky. However, with edge computing, it is possible to prevent or at least lower such risks substantially.

Edge computing only sends the relevant data to the cloud computing infrastructure and may sometimes not even require a network connection.

Speed

While processing data that is extremely close to its source, edge computing significantly cuts down on the latency that may usually occur on other computing infrastructures. Every second is valuable to a business, especially if it is operating online. Therefore, the overall service quality of edge computing outweighs those of other services.

Scalability

Edge computing allows you to expand and scale your IoT network with ease. With edge computing, you can easily deploy IoT devices anywhere you want. In contrast, a cloud computing infrastructure requires data to go through a forward data center. Hence, it is difficult to scale your cloud computing operations. Not to forget, it can also be relatively costly than using edge for scalability.

Potential Drawbacks

Insufficient Data Collection and Processing

Edge computing analyzes, prioritizes, processes, and delivers the data it seems to be of value. While this may save time for many businesses, it can also be the cause of valuable data loss that only a human interaction may be able to exploit.

High-Maintenance

In a cloud computing infrastructure, the network architecture is not as complex as in edge computing. While cloud computing can be straightforward with the right equipment and tools, it takes more time and costs to invest in edge computing.

What’s more, edge computing is equally complex, if not more, and requires setting up multiple working and processing nodes that operate throughout the entire network architecture. Thus, high maintenance is critical to the full functionality of the system.

Conclusion

Technology is only improving different aspects of our lives today. It is subject to ever-changing and constantly evolving algorithms that enable better efficiency, effectiveness, reliability, applications, and much more.

From individuals to large organizations, everyone uses technology that has enabled a worldwide use of cloud computing along with edge computing. Edge computing is a newer and better approach to our current network architecture. While it has some drawbacks, it has so much to offer to businesses.