Edge Computing

'''Edge computing''' tries to
address the performance, reliability, and scalability problems that can be found
in many larger Web applications.
It emphasizes the importance of servers at the edge between users 
and client on one side, and applications and servers on the other side. The edge servers
are located at the Internet Service Provider (ISP) between clients or customers and 
application service provider. The proximity of the "edge servers" to the clients are 
useful to decrease response time.
The most frequently used part of the application is globally distributed to
ensure that applications run close to their end users, automatically providing 
capacity both when and where it is needed.

Although it sounds similar, it has nothing to do with the [[Edge of Chaos|edge of chaos]]
principle. It is a paradigm proposed by IBM, Akamai and Sun.
In order to to use "EdgeComputing", a site developer should
- according to Akamai - split the application into two components: 
an edge component and an origin component. The code in the edge component is 
deployed onto data centers distributed around the world, whereas 
the origin part is deployed in the traditional manner within the central
enterprise data center, see [http://www.akamai.com/devnet/pdf/p586-davis.pdf].
Many client requests can be processed directly at the "edge" without
(Wide Area Network) WAN communication. If the edge server
can answer a request immediately, it does, otherwise it will ask the origin 
component at the enterprise data center, stores the answer for later reuse in a cache, and delivers the response 
to the client.

== Links ==

[http://www.edgecomputing.org/ edgecomputing.org]

[[Category:x-Computing_Techniques]]