What is Edge Networks?

Definition

According to PC Mag, Edge Networks are defined as networks that are located on the outskirts (or edges) of a centralized network. What this means is that since centralized networks have only a single core server, there may need to be a network that is able to take resources from the central server, and provide services to end systems (devices such as PCs, phones, etc. that use the Internet).

Edge Networks are named as such because they exist on the peripherals of the network architecture, more specifically between the core server and the end devices. They are used to eliminate the need for the far-away core server to communicate directly to the end devices. This will obviously help in massively reducing latency and allowing more flexibility in terms of network traffic.[^1]

Edge Computing and Edge Network

The purpose of edge computing is to reduce the workload on the data center because the data center itself is already overloaded with IoT data and therefore it cannot awlays satisfy requests, we can tackle this problem by distirbuting the workload to the end user (or we can call it the edge of the network)

This approach can be applied by creating edge network, edge network brings computation and data storage closer to the end user. With edge network we can speed up the workflow by delivering data with low latency and also save the bandwith.[^2]

Example of an Edge Network

The simplest example of an Edge Network would be Google's. First, a user opens the Google app or requests one of it's web pages. Google will respond to the user's request from an Edge Network location with the lowest latency. The Edge Network will then pass the user's request to the nearest data center. The data center generates a response and the app or browser receives the requested content.

Illustration

Liu, A. (2018). [Edge Network Illustartion]. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Network-framework-Edge-network-layer-is-at-the-edge-of-the-network-which-consists-of_fig1_323715702

The network edge are the servers at the top and the devices at the bottom part of the illustration. Per the definition, those end systems are at the edges of a centralized network.

References

[^1]: M. (2020, October 14). What are Edge Networks? HHHYPERGROWTH. https://hhhypergrowth.com/what-are-edge-networks/ [^2]:What is Edge Network? Definition and FAQs | OmniSci. (2020). Omnisci. https://www.omnisci.com/technical-glossary/edge-network