Fog Computing Leading the Conversation

May 10, 2018 Off By David
Cloud services have been touted as being responsible for the incredulous rise of the Internet of Things (IoT). Today, numerous people and organizations use smart interconnected devices in their day-to-day operations. 

Unbelievably, the concept of M2M (machine to machine) has existed for more than a decade. However, most organizations never bothered to check out and unleash the technology’s power. 

M2M has the power to provide insightful takes on data. The key issue was how the technology would have meshed with prevailing infrastructure. We’ve only just recently unlocked the potential thanks to the fact that our current technology has been able to scale up to handle the bulk of the data. Cloud computing has been right at the heart of the equation. 

If one is looking for ways in which they can utilize the power of cloud computing in an organization, it may be worth checking out Cloud Storage Buzz. The beauty of the technology is that it presents us all with the opportunity to access ample computing power and mammoth-sized storage. Thus, due to these strengths, the cloud has been heralded as an affordable extension to the enterprise data center. 

Scenarios

In truth, cloud computing has numerous applications in the work environment. The close relationship between cloud computing and IoT means that the technology is compatible with every IoT scenario. However, not every IoT scenario can take advantage of it. 

This is because most IoT solutions require urgency when it comes to data processing. In addition, there’s the inherent need for a low-latency scenario. While cloud computing is considered fast, the nature of a business plays a critical role in evaluating its effectiveness.

Organizations like healthcare institutions and LPG stations cannot afford the round-robin path data exchange between the device layer and cloud-based IoT platform. Instead, such environments require the prompt dispatch of services. 

Such solutions can only be affected once there is the assurance of instantaneous processing of data streams with quick turnaround time. Local processing of data ensures that data integrity is maintained and that the service dispensation is much quicker. 

Emergence of Fog

Effectively, fog computing presented the opportunity to bridge the gap between the local data center and the cloud. Big corporations utilize their infrastructure to harness the power of cloud computing whilst ensuring that the needs of their system are fully covered by the IoT. 

Essentially, the resources are a cluster of storage, computer, and network well intertwined to ensure delivery is always prompt, even in local situations. At the edge of the cluster is where fog resides. 

Cisco has been credited as being a pioneer in the field of fog computing. Thankfully, their efforts bore fruit with the advent of the internet of things. At present, the OpenFog Consortium was formulated to drive the fog computing architecture to greater heights. 

Fog computing works by mirroring the aptitudes of cloud within the edge location whilst using the cloud to do most of the heavy lifting. In terms of comparison, Fog computing helps IoT achieve all its objectives in the same manner that hybrid cloud complements enterprise IT. Both technologies bring out the best out their deployment.