Edge Computing: Unlocking Next-level Internet Performance
Transforming internet performance with edge computing.
Edge computing has emerged as a “must” for software devs and security experts adapting to rapid digital transformation while maintaining performance, security, and efficiency. Rafael Umann, founder and CEO at Azion Technologies, says the internet’s evolution relies on solutions like edge computing to propel innovation and meet performance demand.
In the past few years, we have seen an exponential increase in the pace of digital transformation, fueled initially by the COVID-19 pandemic. The need for physical isolation drove companies, businesses, and people to quickly adopt technology that would enable them to continue working, shopping, and keeping in touch with family and friends. This technology’s rapid and widespread adoption stressed the existing internet infrastructure.
According to Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s CEO, during the early period of the pandemic, “We’ve seen two years’ worth of digital transformation in two months.” While this has led to accelerated innovation, it highlighted some critical challenges and limitations of the current centralized cloud computing paradigm related to performance, security, and efficiency.
To address those challenges, a different computing paradigm, called edge computing, has emerged and become a must for every forward-thinking software developer and security expert. Here are some key reasons why edge computing is essential to the internet’s evolution.
Performance and Security Are Still Lacking
With the advent of high-bandwidth domestic fiber optic connections and 5G networks offering speeds in the 100s of megabits per second to any device in the range of a cell tower, performance should be a solvable issue. But while there’s plenty of bandwidth, latency remains a big issue.
Network congestion increases as the number of connected devices making requests increases. It may take just a few milliseconds for your request to reach a server, but if it takes more than that to answer, even the fastest connection in the world will seem unbearably slow.
Low latency is essential for new applications and use cases — like artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, telemedicine, virtual reality, and industrial automation, among others — where even a small delay can have significant consequences.
It also offers a major improvement opportunity for legacy applications running on centralized computing — such as a data center or cloud provider — as it enables a smooth path to application modernization while improving application performance from Day 1.
Security is the other issue. It’s said that “data is the new oil,” and where there is information, criminals will try to get their hands on it. According to a report by Cyberint, the number of ransomware attacks worldwide increased by more than 70% between Q1 and Q3 2023. This is just one category on a list of threats, including data leaks and exfiltration, DDoS(distributed denial-of-service) attacks, corporate espionage, and much more.
See More: The Delicate Balance of Network Security and Performance
The Edge Advantage
The nature of edge computing platforms makes them uniquely suited to address those challenges. Data packets travel at the speed of light, but even light takes time to cover a given distance. The easiest way to reduce latency is to put the data near the customer, like on the nodes of an edge network.
This approach works well for static content and is what CDNs (content delivery networks) have been doing for ages. Modern applications, however, require intense processing, and if your customers still have to reach far for data, they will suffer performance loss.
Edge networks solve this problem by allowing you to offload your application logic to the nodes, greatly reducing the processing time. Edge processing can also improve traditional applications such as e-commerce and banking services, allowing them to deliver much better user experiences and increased service reliability.
The decentralized and smart nature of edge networks also helps them tackle security. The edge security perimeter stands between the user and the application, and in case of an attack (like a DDoS), the node closest to the user will be responsible for intercepting it, keeping the application far from harm’s way.
This is further strengthened by edge firewalls, including services to protect against DDoS attacks and web application firewalls (WAFs), which can automatically analyze incoming requests and block those deemed harmful or malicious.
Edge computing can also make applications more resilient to network and service disruptions. Even when connectivity to the central cloud is lost, local processing at the edge can continue operating, ensuring uninterrupted service for critical applications in areas such as health care, manufacturing, and autonomous systems while benefiting traditional applications.
See More: How Multi-CDN Strategies Can Help Organizations
Cost Reduction With Increased Efficiency: You Can Have Both
With edge computing, the benefits are music to a business leader’s ear: “cost reduction” and “efficiency.” Data processing occurring locally or at the network edge reduces the need to transmit large volumes of data to a central server, which helps conserve network bandwidth. This is particularly important when network bandwidth is limited or expensive, leading to cost reductions.
The distributed architecture also allows for the scalable deployment of computing resources: New edge nodes can be added as needed without having to think about overprovisioning capacity and without relying solely on centralized data centers, promoting a more decentralized and flexible network infrastructure.
Edge computing platforms based on open standards are also simpler to build on than the cloud, as they provide tools and experiences that simplify the development workflow, leading to a more efficient process and a shorter time for innovation. Newer, edge-native software architectures (like MACH and Jamstack) provide a much more powerful, flexible, and extensible way to build composable applications that later can be connected in different ways to provide custom solutions with almost no development effort.
Speed and security are the main challenges to realizing the promises of the next generation of the internet, where not only humans but devices and APIs are heavy users, which requires a new and modern approach to how applications are built.
Edge computing offers a unique combination of features that makes it possible to overcome those challenges and makes the development of those new applications easier and more efficient. Every wave of innovation brings many opportunities for businesses to grow, and those who get a head start will surely reap the benefits. Will you step up?
How has edge computing influenced your digital experience? Why is it vital for the future of internet performance? Let us know on Facebook, X, and LinkedIn. We’d love to hear from you!
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