What's Fog Computing?

Hi All!  Today, I’m going to share something about the new Cloud Technology called “The Fog Computing.” Applications such as health-monitoring or emergency response require near-instantaneous response and the delays caused by contacting and receiving data from a cloud data-center can be highly problematic.“Fog Computing” is a response to this challenge. The basic idea is to shift some of the computing from the data-center to devices closer to the edge of the network. Companies are moving the cloud to the ground (hence “fog computing”). The computing work is shared between the data-center and various local IoT devices (e.g. a local routers or smart-gateways). “Fog computing is a paradigm for managing a highly distributed and possibly virtualized environment that provides computer and network services between sensors and cloud data-centers”While cloud computing (using large data-centers) is perfect for analysis of Big Data “at rest” (i.e.  analyzing historical trends where large magnitudes of data are required and cheap processing necessary) Fog computing may be much better for dynamic analysis of “data-in-motion” (data concerning immediate ongoing actions which require rapid analytical response).Privacy concerns are also relevant. By moving data-analysis to the edge of the network (e.g. a device or local mobile phone) that's is often owned and controlled by the data-source, the user may have more control over their data. For example: an exercise tracker might aggregate and process its GPS data and fitness data on a local mobile phone rather than automatically uploading it to a distant server. It might also undertake data-trimming so reducing the bandwidth and load on the cloud.Another challenge is the climatic damage this new architecture poses. While data-centers are increasingly efficient in their processing, and often rely on clean-energy sources, moving computing to less efficient devices at the edge of the network might create a problem. We are effectively balancing latency with CO2 production. Thanks and I hope this was helpful.