Harnessing Fog Computing for distributed IoT Application
One of the amazing applications of the internet of things (IoT) is to move away from centralization and look for solutions that use a distributed architecture. This is possible by employing the processing capacity of every device in the smart system to ensure faster functionality, with the ability to process a greater volume of data.
One way of empowering distributed IoT application is to harness the power of fog computing. Here, we define this method and the benefits that it offers:
What is Fog Computing?
Cisco came up with this important term, which describes the use of cloud computing in an extended manner. This is possible by bringing the available computing power close to the network of the enterprise which requires the IoT application. This technique allows for improved networking, better intra-device communication, and the ideal utilization of computing power. These are all elements that have the capacity to empower distributed IoT solutions in the following manner:
The Improvements
The increasing number of smart devices means that they are producing large volumes of data that may be difficult to process. Fog computing ensures that it is possible to process of this data as close to the edge of the network as possible. This greatly reduces the load on the external network and ensures that you can control the size of your universal database, by distributing information to local databases as much as possible.
Other improvements include increased efficiency and the ability to employ all available resources in a network. When used properly, fog computing can allow companies to come up with enhanced distributed IoT solutions that are perfect for handling large number of devices found in enterprise networks.
The Application
Applying fog computing in an IoT application is certainly a recipe for success. The application starts by selecting an ideal platform, which is capable of performing fog computing. Companies like Amazon and others are now bringing in solutions that you can use to set up fog computing.
These IoT solutions are properly set up by using local databases and data compression schemes. The common processing tasks are carried out near the sensors which are generating the data, and then the prepared information is coded using a standardized data compression technique.
Cloud scale processing is significantly reduced by locally storing the data and then processing it using resources that are otherwise free. Amazon Web Services can be used to create such a horizontal IoT platform which can provide the required functionality in a multitude of settings. The application for fog computing also includes security methods, so that the processed information cannot be used by unauthorized personnel and devices.
An IoT application certainly becomes more powerful, when employed with fog computing. It has the capacity to reduce the workload on internet servers and improve the current generation of smart solution. With fog computing, there is certainly no limit to the scalability of a distributed IoT application too!
