Living on the Edge

To quote Aerosmith, “We’re livin’ on the edge”. Yes, that’s how this article on modern trends in computing is going to start and it really is quite apt.

That’s because we’re talking about the rise and sprawl of edge computing, which is taking processing and response functionalities away from centralised nodes and closer to data inputs and outputs. Figuratively, computing is living on the edge.

What does it mean?

More literally, edge computing means pushing the frontier of applications, data and services away from centralised nodes, such as servers and PCs, to the extremes, or edges, of a network. This enables data gathering, analytics and responsivity to occur at the source of the data.

As a result, a businesses can run faster due to more agile distributed networks; content providers can source, analyse and distribute their content from many places at once, fulfilling the needs of many individuals remotely; and manufacturers can create products that react to their owners’ needs quickly within the home.

Edge computing also lightens the load on the people and machines responsible for handling the centralised data centres and the information they store. This could be physically, via the use of huge cooling apparatus, or more abstractly, in terms of overloaded individuals and underwritten algorithms trying to handle big data in one place.

We’re seeing things in a different way

That title is another lyric from the same Aerosmith song. Again, it’s relevant because edge computing is really changing the way that users of all kinds, but especially those in the commercial sector, visualise networks, data analysis and computing in general.

Edge computing allows networks to no longer be a spider’s web, with a processing centre sitting in the middle of many strands connected to a range of inputs and outputs. They can now consist of various hubs that work with and respond to users or data sources at the point where they are needed.

These mini hubs can then be linked to each other and the cloud as needed, thereby creating an ultra-efficient system with no huge data and workloads on centralised systems.

Remote desktops on the edge

While a kettle that analyses your perfect cup of tea is nice, edge computing can change the situation for businesses and their workers much more fundamentally.

Hosted desktops like GoCloud’s are some of the most versatile and widely usable examples of edge computing promoting efficiency in business. They provide users with a remote work hub that can work autonomously, providing users with their own desktop applications and data, no matter where they are or what they are working on.

Simultaneously, they can call upon the resources of any other hub they are cleared to, communicating with numerous users and working with a range of data seamlessly. Because of the cloud, central infrastructure is minimised and responsiveness is maximised.

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