World is growing at a fast pace and so is data. Agility and flexibility of big data applications are gradually taking the form of the Internet of Things (IoT). Internet of Things brings more than an explosive escalation of endpoints. It is unconventional in several ways. The surge and escalation of IoT gave rise to a colossal increase in the volume of digitally generated data. The limitations of current cloud computing is a subject of broader discussion. To the answer to these emerging challenges new computing technologies have arrived.
Introduction to Fog Computing
A simple definition of fog is ‘cloud closer to the ground,’ which gives us an idea of functioning of fog computing. Fog computing is now positioned as a layer to reduce the latency in hybrid cloud scenarios. The terminology refers to a new breed of applications and services, particularly when it comes to data management and analytics. It is a layer in the middle of cloud and the hardware. In cloud computing data needs to be accessed to the central mainframe. Fog Computing offers local and faster accessibility to edge devices.
There are two planes in a fog computing network. The ‘Data Plane,’ also referred as forwarding plane, and the ‘Control Plane.’
If anything happens to the data packets, it is determined by the data plane. The computing resources can be placed anywhere in the network with the help of data plane. The distribution can be done on the edge of the network.
A critique of the network is provided by the control plane, functioning with the routing protocols which run in the architectural control element. IoT data can be undertaken in a data hub or smart device which are closer to the sensor with the help of fog computing.
The data in fog computing can be accessed in between devices locally without any help of the cloud repository. This will help to boost accessibility, and collaboration among devices and data centers.
Fog Computing Under IoT
Fog computing is an archetype that extends cloud computing and services to the edge of the network. The distinguishing fog characteristics are its proximity to the end users. Fog infrastructure redistributes the data and compute, so that much of the action takes place on the edge devices right on your finger tips. The application services are hosted on the network edges.
The data from the things where sensors are attached on the object of interest is transported to the services to the edge of network (a fog network). From the fog network the data is transported to the remote services hosted on the internet to store, manage and process data (cloud network).
The goal of fog computing is to improve the efficiency and reduce the amount of data that needs to be transported to the cloud for analysis or processing or storage.
Emergence of Fog Computing
The world is marking a colossal rise in terms of digitally generated data from IoT and connected devices. The growth of smartphones and applications is enabling more users to access data, computation power as well as control and manage their end devices in real-time. A littlest data is required by conventional cloud architectures to send to the central cloud through edge fork devices for computation and analysis, which eventually adds latency. Fog computing allows the edge node devices to carry out some local data processing, cache data management, local resource pooling, local device management, dense geographical distribution, load balancing, latency reduction for better quality of service and edge node analytics. It results in enhancing overall user experiences.
Functioning of Fog Computing
The cloud is becoming congested due to more and more devices connecting to the internet. In fog computing, most of the processing takes place in data hub or on the edge of the network. The implementation of fog computing separates the data obtained from the closest IoT devices on the most biting aspect which is time.
Fog-empowered edge node devices locally analyzes the most time-critical data. It results in the lowest latency and prevention of major damage before it may even occur. Time-critical data can consist of alarm status, device status, fault warnings and much more.
For a persistent or periodically storage less time-critical data is sent to the central mainframe. It can be retrieved as and when required. Less time-critical data includes files, device logs, reports for analysis and much more.
How it is Beneficial for Business
The bottom-line impact adds instant value to business. Fog computing makes the production of revenue-generating products and services more efficient and therefore is more cost-effective. It helps in acceleration of rollout cycles, reducing costs and broadens revenue bases.
The new revenue streams creates value for IoT. The streams will come from both IoT and Embedded AI and 5G. It will foster the development of long-awaited revenue-generating applications and services.
With the help of shred-and-spread nature of the fog architecture, the business will run more efficiently and cost-effectively. Fog provides highly functioning internal business services.
It also provides a common framework for collaboration and communication. It helps IT and OT business teams to enable work together and bring in cloud capabilities closer.
Advantages of Fog Computing
Fog computing have several advantages over its ancestor, cloud computing. Basic cloud computing technology is utilized by fog computing at its core. It helps to boost usability and accessibility in different computing environments. The advantages that fog computing offers are as follows-
- Globally distributed network helps minimal downtime
- Place data close to the end-user
- Load balancing
- Create dense geographical distribution
- Maximize network bandwidth utilization
- Adopt numerous verticals
- Optimal operational expense
- Business Agility
- Support mobility and IoT
- Better Interconnectivity
- Enhanced Quality of Service (QoS)
- Latency Reduction
Cloud computing is going out-of-date and is relevant when it comes to Internet of Things. In the near future, fog computing will take over and cloud will be pushed to the side lines. Fog computing will be handling all critical work. The way the IoT is growing, it needs a special infrastructure base that can handle all its requirements. At present, fog computing is on a surge and it seems to be the most feasible option available.
