Introduction
The internet is a beautiful thing, right? It connects you with people all over the world, and gives you access to information at your fingertips. But there’s one drawback: latency. Latency is an unavoidable result of sending data over long distances, but edge computing can help make your experience faster and more reliable by bringing processing closer to where it’s needed.
Edge Computing is an approach to computing that moves processing closer to the source of data.
Edge computing is an approach to computing that moves processing closer to the source of data. This can be done through a number of methods, such as using local servers or devices that are connected directly to the internet. By doing this, you can reduce latency (the time it takes for information to travel from one place to another). It also improves performance since there are fewer steps involved in transmitting data across networks and locations.
In order to understand why edge computing improves latency, it helps to understand the current state of computing.
To understand why edge computing improves latency, it helps to understand the current state of computing.
In today’s world, data travels long distances before it can be processed. This requires a lot of time and energy–and makes for slow response times when you’re trying to get things done. The speed at which a signal travels depends on several factors including:
- The medium used to transmit the signal (cable vs fiber optic)
- The distance between points A and B
The current state of computing requires data to travel long distances before it can be processed.
The current state of computing requires data to travel long distances before it can be processed, which can result in significant latency issues. Data travels over the internet, cable lines and wireless connections. In some cases, it even has to travel through satellites in outer space!
The speed at which a signal travels depends on several factors, including the medium used to transmit the signal and the distance between points A and B.
The speed at which a signal travels depends on several factors, including the medium used to transmit the signal and the distance between points A and B. For example:
- The speed of light in free space is 186,000 miles per second (300 million meters per second). This means that if you could see everything happening around you in real time, it would take about one second for light from your house’s front door to reach your eyes.
- In contrast to this incredibly fast speed, electricity travels through copper wire at just over 2 feet per nanosecond (0.5 m/ns). If we assume that our houses use electrical wiring as opposed to fiber optics for data transmission purposes (which they may not), then we can calculate how long it takes for an electrical signal from one end of a house’s wiring system to reach any other point within said system by using Ohm’s Law: V=IR; where V = Voltage drop across resistor R = Resistance of resistor I = Current flowing through resistor
As you might expect, a signal traveling over the internet will take longer than one traveling over a cable in your house.
As you might expect, a signal traveling over the internet will take longer than one traveling over a cable in your house. But why?
The speed of light is the same for all media, so why does it matter if you’re sending data through copper wiring or fiber optics? The answer lies in how we measure distance. A mile on earth may not be exactly 6096 feet (1853 meters) when measured from sea level due to differences in gravity and curvature of terrain–but as far as anyone knows, they’re still both equal to approximately 1/56600th of an arcsecond (or 1/33000th of an arcminute). This consistency allows us to accurately determine how long it takes for a signal sent at one point on Earth’s surface to reach another point by measuring how long it took light traveling at 186282 miles per second (300000 kilometers per second)
Regardless of the technology being used, latency is almost always directly proportional to distance between two points–that is, every time you add more distance between two points, you add more latency.
Regardless of the technology being used, latency is almost always directly proportional to distance between two points–that is, every time you add more distance between two points, you add more latency.
For example: If a signal travels across one network hop (the distance from one router to another) and takes 1 second to do so, then it will take 2 seconds for that same signal to travel across two hops because there are now two routers instead of just one in between them. Similarly, if there were three routers in between those same two points instead of just two routers (or four routers instead of three), then it would take 3 seconds or 4 seconds respectively for your data packet to get from point A to point B via those extra hops along its path through your network’s infrastructure.*
Edge computing reduces latency by moving processes closer to where they are needed
Edge computing is a new approach to computing that moves processes closer to where they are needed. It uses the internet, but it’s not the Internet. Edge computing is a network of networks, made up of all kinds of devices–from smartphones to autonomous cars–that have their own processing power and storage capabilities.
Edge computing provides benefits for latency in several ways:
Conclusion
Edge computing is a powerful tool for improving your business. By moving processing closer to where data is created and consumed, you can dramatically reduce latency and improve the speed of your applications.
