Fog Computing
The term fog computing (or fogging) was coined
by Cisco in 2014, so it is new for the general public. Fog and cloud computing
are interconnected. In nature, fog is closer to the earth than clouds; in the
technological world, it is just the same, fog is closer to end-users, bringing
cloud capabilities down to the ground.
The definition may sound like this: fog is the extension of
cloud computing that consists of multiple edge nodes directly
connected to physical devices.
Such nodes are physically much closer to devices if compared to
centralized data centers, which is why they are able to provide instant
connections. The considerable processing power of edge nodes allows them to
perform the computation of a great amount of data on their own, without sending
it to distant servers.
Fog can also include cloudlets — small-scale
and rather powerful data centers located at the edge of the network. Their
purpose is to support resource-intensive IoT apps that require low latency.
The main difference between fog computing and cloud computing is
that cloud is a centralized system, while the fog is a distributed
decentralized infrastructure.
Fog computing is a mediator between hardware and remote servers.
It regulates which information should be sent to the server and which can be
processed locally. In this way, fog is an intelligent gateway that offloads
clouds enabling more efficient data storage, processing and analysis.
One should note that fog networking is not a separate architecture
and it doesn’t replace cloud computing but rather complements it, getting as
close to the source of information as possible.
The new technology is likely to have the greatest impact on the
development of IoT, embedded AI and 5G solutions, as they, like never before,
demand agility and seamless connections.
Pros of Fog Computing
The fogging approach has many benefits for the Internet of
Things, Big Data and real-time analytics. Here are the main advantages of fog
computing over cloud computing:
·
Low
latency (fog is
geographically closer to users and is able to provide instant responses)
·
No
problems with bandwidth (pieces of information are aggregated at different
points instead of sending them together to one center via one channel)
·
Loss
of connection is impossible (due to multiple interconnected channels)
·
High
security (because data is processed by a huge number of nodes in a complex
distributed system)
·
Improved
user experience (instant responses and no downtimes satisfy users)
·
Power-efficiency
(edge nodes run power-efficient protocols such as Bluetooth, Zigbee or Z-Wave)
Cons of Fog Computing
The technology doesn’t have any apparent disadvantages, but some
shortcomings can be named:
·
A
more complicated system (fog
is an additional layer in the data processing and storage system)
·
Additional
expenses (companies
should buy edge devices: routers, hubs, gateways)
·
Limited
scalability (fog is not as
scalable as cloud)
