Cloud computing and edge computing are often discussed mutually but they may differ in function.

Cloud computing, the on-demand computer system for data storage and computing power, has been existed for decades now. When the computer scientist John McCarthy in the 1960s came up with the concept of time sharing and enabled organizations to simultaneously use an expensive mainframe, this was described as a significant contribution to the development of the Internet and the foundation of cloud computing. Since then, it has evolved through a number of phases, offering large, centralized big data storage servers to businesses. Conversely, edge computing is a newer computing model that brings computation and data storage closer to the device or data source where it is needed.

The rise of edge computing is majorly accredited to the increase of the internet of things (IoT) devices connect to the Internet every second. Traditionally, IoT devices produce data that is transferred back to a central network server, often housed in a data center. Once that data is processed, further instructions are sent back to the devices out on the edge of the network. However, there are some issues with this system as it takes more time for data to travel from the edge device back to the center for processing that puts great strain on bandwidth, slowing the network down to a crawl.

Edge computing is a resourceful approach to the network infrastructure that capitalizes on the generous processing power driven by the amalgamation of modern IoT devices and edge data centers.

With the growing capabilities of edge systems, some people believe that edge computing has the ability to eventually replace traditional Cloud Computing infrastructure. But, both technologies have vital and distinct roles within an IT ecosystem. Edge computing can be perceived as an alternative approach to the cloud as opposed to IoT, processing real-time data near the data source, which is considered the edge of the network. Moreover, as in a cloud environment, all data is collected and processed in a centralized location, usually in a data center, it is generally easy to secure and control while enabling for reliable remote access.

However, at some points, there are several issues and challenges in cloud infrastructures where edge computing can play a significant role, enhancing the performance of cloud computing.

Why Edge Computing is Essential for Cloud Computing

Since a wide range of applications and different social media platforms generate a lot of data on a daily basis, all the data has been stored, computed, processed at the cloud. But this usually increases the response time to users that should be eased through a data processing capacity at the edge of the network. This is significantly essential because if the data that is produced by the source is processed at the edge, which is close to the source, the response time gets shorter. Edge Computing enables computing resources and application services to be distributed throughout the communication path using a decentralized computing infrastructure.

In addition to gleaning data for transmission to the cloud, edge computing also processes, assesses, and acts crucial actions on the data collected locally. It has the potential to bring analytics capabilities closer to the machine, which eliminates the need of a middleman.