Introduction
To understand why edge computing reduces latency, it’s helpful to take a look at the underlying causes of latency. Latency is simply the time it takes for data to move from one place to another. The speed of light is what limits this movement, so anything that can reduce that speed will also reduce latency. In some cases, edge computing can even eliminate latency altogether by moving work from an end user’s device directly into an application running on a server nearby (or even in the same building).
Latency is an inevitable consequence of the speed of light.
When we talk about latency, we’re talking about how long it takes for a packet of data to travel from one place to another. The speed of light is the most important factor here, because it’s a physical limit that can’t be overcome without breaking physics.
The speed of light in air (or vacuum) is 299,792.458 km/s–or 186,282 miles per second–and doesn’t change depending on where you are or what direction you’re looking at it from! So if your server is located halfway around the world from your clients’ devices, there’s nothing you can do about that extra distance besides adding more servers closer together so they don’t have as far to go when sending packets back and forth between themselves
Edge computing reduces latency by cutting out steps in the data processing chain.
Edge computing reduces latency by cutting out steps in the data processing chain. For example, let’s say you have an application that needs to process large amounts of data in real time. Traditionally this would require sending all that data back to a central location for processing, which can take time and introduce significant delays due to network congestion or other factors affecting transmission speed.
Edge computing moves some of those tasks closer to where they’re needed–at or near end users’ devices–to reduce processing time and improve responsiveness.
In some cases, edge computing can remove latency altogether.
In some cases, edge computing can remove latency altogether. For example:
- In a use case where IoT devices are collecting and analyzing data in real time, there’s no need to send that data back to the cloud for processing. The IoT device can do it on its own. This is called “on-device” or “on-board” processing, and it completely eliminates any latency caused by sending data across networks and through servers.
- In other cases where you don’t have enough bandwidth or power resources at your disposal (for example, if you’re using a drone), then having access to an edge computing platform will allow you to perform computations locally without relying on any external resources whatsoever–which again means zero or near-zero latency!
Edge computing can reduce latency by integrating multiple systems into a single platform.
Edge computing can reduce latency by integrating multiple systems into a single platform.
Edge computing can reduce latency by moving data processing closer to the end user.
Edge computing can eliminate steps in the data processing chain, which improves performance and reduces costs
It’s possible to reduce latency by moving more work to servers that are physically close to the end user
In a nutshell, the closer you can get your servers to the end user, the less latency there will be in your application. The more work that can be done on edge devices and in real-time, the less latency there will be in your application.
Conclusion
In conclusion, edge computing can be a powerful tool for reducing latency. It can also be used to integrate multiple systems into a single platform that’s more responsive than ever before. The technology is still in its infancy, but we are already seeing how it can change the way we live our lives by making things faster and easier for everyone involved.
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