Limited cloud computing, massive data, fog computing, driving the power of future technology

Lead: The Wall Street Journal commented today that when more and more objects become "intelligent", they can feel the surrounding environment or be connected to the Internet and receive remote commands, the insufficient network speed makes cloud computing unable to meet the massive data storage, transmission and processing needs. At this time, some technology companies have put forward a new concept of "fog computing. Unlike "Cloud", which is driven by servers, "fog computing" is driven by scattered household appliances, automobiles, street lamps, and other computers. Maybe the future of computing for many enterprises is still in the "Cloud", but fog computing is the real force that will guide the future computing revolution.

The full text is as follows:

Iot deepens the "Dilemma" of cloud computing"

Many are "Believers" in the power of cloud computing transformation ". Smartphones may constantly explore and search for data, but without the cloud, it makes no sense. Enterprise businesses that do not try to promote their data and software to the data center will eventually be defeated by their competitors.

Those who support cloud computing said that all computing will be carried out on the cloud one day. In fact, many cloud computing companies always intentionally or unintentionally pass this idea to users.

But in fact, importing data to the cloud and obtaining data from the cloud is more difficult than most engineers or engineering managers think.

The problem lies in bandwidth. If a company wants to save costs and find a way to store a huge amount of data, it just needs to transmit data back and forth through high-speed lines.

But in the modern world, "connectivity" is getting stronger and more ubiquitous. You need to  from various mobile devices, but to be honest, the bandwidth used to transmit data is very slow. Any business that needs to transmit data to mobile devices, whether it is an airline ticket booking system for consumers or an enterprise data system for mobile sales teams, must address the limitations of wireless networks. According to the World Economic Forum, the average bandwidth of Americans ranks 35th globally.

This is why mobile apps become the Internet, at least the most common thing on smartphones: some of the data and processing capabilities are completed and provided by devices.

As humans become increasingly reliant on the cloud, the situation is getting worse and worse. More and more objects become "intelligent", can feel the surrounding environment, or can connect to the Internet or even receive commands remotely. From a jet engine to a refrigerator, all objects are connected by a wireless network. This is the so-called "Internet of Things ".

3G and 4G cellular networks are not fast enough to generate data and then transmit data from devices to the cloud. When all devices in the home and office are connected to the Internet, the problem is worse.

New Solution: fog computing

Fortunately, the new solution was born. Everyone started to stop focusing on the cloud and think about how devices themselves or intermediate devices (the media of the Internet and devices) can store and process massive data generated by the Internet of Things.

Cisco's marketing staff named this solution fog computing.

Like "cloud computing", "fog computing" was originally just a marketing term and later became synonymous with new technologies. On the surface, "cloud computing" is something that floats in a distant place and is abstract. Different from "fog computing", "fog computing" is closer to "Ground", where computing is happening.

"Fog computing" is not composed of powerful servers, but by relatively weak and scattered computers, such as household appliances, factories, automobiles, street lights, etc.

Cisco sells routers. As we all know, in addition to storage, routers may be the least "Sexiest" service in the technology industry. To make their routers more attractive and sell their routers to new markets before their competitors disrupt their revenue sources, Cisco plans to make the routers a data collection center, the router can determine the operations on the collected data.

In Cisco's imagination, smart routers will never talk to the "cloud" unless these routers act as the "Neural hub" to load rail vehicles.

IBM also has similar initiatives, and the company hopes to push computing to the "edge ". IBM executive Paul Brody said the company plans to "drive away" the traditional cloud-based Internet ". (Edge computing refers to the edge of the network, that is, the border between the end of the Internet and the beginning of the real world. The data center is in the network "center", and the PC, mobile phone, and network monitoring camera are in the "edge ").

Origins of "fog"

From a physical perspective, the cloud is driven by servers. In IBM's research project, "fog" is driven by existing computers around you. At a certain level, for example, "fog computing" requires smart devices to send software upgrades to each other, rather than the cloud ". To some extent, this leads to "fog" and "cloud" as direct competitors.

In the final analysis, "fog" computing was born because there was too much data, and this was just the beginning. Airplanes are the best example. Almost all components of a Boeing 747 are connected to the Internet, and they record and continuously send data streams about the aircraft status. Ge said a one-way flight would generate TB of data.

Cheap aircraft sensors also generate a large amount of "big" data, which is incredibly useful. For example, the so-called predictive analysis allows GM to know which part of the jet engine may need repair.

Why are Google and Facebook looking for new solutions to provide Internet connections? Via hot air balloon and self-driving aircraft? That's because wireless carriers have not done anything in this regard.

Of course, the future of many enterprise computing is still in the "Cloud. However, in the future, the real computing revolution will take place in the fog.

Limited cloud computing, massive data, fog computing, driving the power of future technology