What is an Edge Network?

Edge networking is critical to the future. Organizations continue to expand, and analysts predict that the data center won’t be the only workhorse when it comes to enterprise networking. In fact, some estimate that in a couple years, more than 50% of data will be generated outside the data center or cloud.

What is an Edge Network?

Edge networks are composed of edge devices that connect to the broader Internet, bringing computing resources closer to end-users. This reduces processing delays and improves performance, enhancing user experience.

Bringing processing closer to the end user lowers latency, enabling real-time actions and applications. Processing data locally also improves bandwidth efficiency, reliability, and scalability. Emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning, for example, compute at the edge.

In essence, edge networks represent a shift towards a more distributed and agile approach to networking. This approach promises faster, more reliable services.

Why are Edge Networks needed?

Edge networks are a response to the massive growth of data that’s part of digital transformation. In modern computing environments, many applications and use cases are highly data-intensive and latency-sensitive. Services like streaming media, self-driving vehicles, healthcare devices that monitor patient vitals, smart city solutions for directing traffic, and IoT devices that control industrial manufacturing processes all require a network that offers high performance, ultra-low latency, and the strongest security. They make this possible by moving computing functions away from centralized data centers and cloud environments, and allowing these processes to take place at the network’s edge, closer to where data is created and consumed.

How does it work?

Edge network is a data management process, supplying digital resources to users by combining your edge devices and your on-premises servers to the cloud to process, store, and analyze data. Everyone who is utilizing your data infrastructure will be connected to each other’s devices via the cloud to complete minor processing tasks. Creating a vast network of devices allows for processing larger workloads and problem-solving from edge-to-cloud, without requiring the power of a large data center.

The process of edge network works via an established connection between an organization’s servers and IoT devices to build a broader, more efficient data architecture. With the massive workloads that organizations face, along with the hybrid digital environment that today’s industries require, edge technology is absolutely critical to the success of enterprise organizations. With increased connectivity comes increased uses for IoT devices. This connectivity makes edge networking essential to build and maintain secure data architectures, affecting both consumers and organizations.

For organizations without access to large data centers or high computing capacity, massive workloads were previously unattainable. Or there was a limit on the processing capacity of servers, effectively hindering larger workloads. With edge networking, connected devices can process data without utilizing the resources and computing capacity of the physical servers themselves, alleviating demand on the central servers, and problem-solving more efficiently than ever.

Some benefits

For organizations wrestling with overloaded data center problems, edge networks offer plenty of useful benefits.

• Greater speed – The top benefit offered by edge networks is increased data transmission rates with better throughput, as enabled by decreased latency and as compared to regular networks. These download speeds can hit 384 Kbps (or between two and three times faster than regular networks).
• Enhanced security – Edge networks also help organizations do a better job of policing their own networking services from a network security perspective, bolstering those efforts with added access control, packet inspection, and data decryption. Edge networks also add a complete layer of cyber security to network cores.
• Increased bandwidth – To achieve its steady throughput, edge networks can be identified by the high bandwidth typically associated with edge computing. In edge networks, this pronounced bandwidth is combined with greatly reduced latency that improves the real-time access of network information.
• Stronger reliability – One key feature of edge networks is their dependability. Credit the near-omnipresence of edge devices. These both store and process data and work in conjunction with edge data centers to counter and overcome any occasional network connectivity issues they may experience.

Difference between Network Edge and Network Core

A network core functions to interconnect various parts of a network and provide a path for the exchange of information within the data center and between other data centers via routers and switches. Network core functionality includes aggregation, authentication, call control/switching, charging gateways, and service invocation. Network cores are categorized as collapsed, parallel, or serial.

The edge distribution network consists of edge devices such as computers, WiFi access points, and desktop and wiring closet switches, also known as hosts or end systems, that are connected at the edge of the network. While the core of the network is often in the data centers, the edge resides in the wiring closets. Data centers have edge networks in racks that aggregate server traffic.

Network Edge is shaping the future of connectivity

The network edge holds immense importance in today’s interconnected world. As more devices join the digital landscape and demand for compute-intensive services rises, the network edge becomes a crucial focal point.

The need to transition towards connectivity that is more decentralized, intelligent, and secure brings forth several challenges that service providers must overcome. From elastic bandwidth to network security, these hurdles necessitate strategic solutions for a robust and adaptable network edge. As service providers’ customers look for ways to improve efficiency, innovation, and cost-effectiveness, the network edge is a key area where progress and innovation are shaping the future of connectivity.