The Complexities of Edge Computing

It’s smaller computers, doing limited tasks. So why is Edge Computing so complicated, and why are there so many definitions?

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SHOW NOTES:

• Edge Computing
• Internet of Things (IoT)
• Industrial IoT
• Digital Twins
• Digital Twins and IoT
• LF Edge, State of Edge 2021 Report ($800B by 2028)

THE COMPLEXITIES OF EDGE COMPUTING

No single definition of edge, because of so many use-cases

• Branch office
• Near-Edge 
• Far-Edge
• Disconnected

Hardware can dictate quite a bit about edge characteristics

• Custom-OS or COTS OS
• General purpose HW or Specialized HW (GPU, NVMe, DPUs)
• #of computing devices; volume of local storage

Networking can dictate quite a bit about edge characteristics

• Are the devices always connected to the Internet?
• How are disconnected environments handled?
• How much bandwidth is available? Is it symmetric or asymmetric? 
• What are the traffic patterns of the applications? Local vs. Backhaul. 

Security can dictate quite a bit about edge characteristics

• How does Security happen on Day 0?
• What are the security vs. usability tradeoffs? (direct user interaction) 
• How is security maintained? (CVE, Local Security services, etc.)

Maintenance can dictate quite a bit about edge characteristics

• How much does it cost to deploy new edges?
• How often are the edges expected to be upgraded? 
• How will maintenance happen? (Local tech, remote download, etc.)
• How sophisticated is the Day 2 Ops? (Telemetry, Environmentals, Benchmarks, etc.) 

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