Edge device

Edge device, also known as edge computing or edge network device, is a type of computer device present in the edge of the network or in close proximity to it. Edge devices are used to collect and process data from the Internet of Things (IoT) devices in real-time, reducing the need to bring that data back to the cloud or on-premise data center for further processing.

Edge devices are typically used by businesses and large organizations to collect and analyze data from IoT sensors, perform analytics, machine learning, and AI tasks at the source instead of relying on cloud or on-premise infrastructure. This significantly reduces the need to send data back-and-forth to the cloud or on-premise data centers to improve the performance, scalability, and cost of these operations.

Edge devices come in a variety of form factors, such as small embedded systems, single-board computers, gateways, and rack-mounted servers. Their form factor is often determined by the type of application and the amount of processing power needed, as well as the network connectivity requirements.

Many manufacturers (such as Dell, Intel, and HP) offer edge computing services designed to provide network access, manageability, scalability, and security for IoT applications and data. These solutions often come packaged with various software, platform, and security solutions designed to make the deployment, management, and maintenance of edge devices easier.

The use of edge computing is becoming increasingly popular due to its cost-effectiveness, scalability, and high performance. With proper management and security protocols, edge devices can serve as an important component of a network in order to facilitate intelligent decision-making, enable data-centric operations, and improve the accuracy of analytics and machine learning tasks.