Did you know that in only two years period of time, we, the users of the Internet, will produce as much as 50.000 gigabytes per second?
[easy-tweet tweet=”Our data centres will soon become overcrowded with information” hashtags=”IoT, FogComputing”]
This isn’t just an interesting fact, this is also an upcoming problem that we will have to face very soon. The question at hand is of course the following:
Where are we going to store all of that information?
While some alternatives suggest such extremes like implementing data storage disks in any device capable of carrying them; a whole other aspect will begin to give us additional headaches. And that is data acquisition and real time computing.
As the rising need of real time data acquisition continues to grow, our servers, and our providers, will simply begin to crack under pressure. Actual proof of how much of an issue an over-clogged channel can present for both the end user and the service provider are the frequent cyber-security breaches that we are witnessing on a daily basis. Our providers and governments are simply incapable of spotting the actual threat, and warning us in time before our records get exposed and our accounts hacked. And if you were wondering why is this the case, you should know that the problem is actually more of a technical nature, but a very simple one in fact:
We are hogging all of the Internet!
With so many operations computing simultaneously, spotting the threat literally becomes an impossible task. It is as though you are trying to find a needle in the haystack.
Before the end of this decade we will have more than 22 billion devices online. Now imagine 22 billion devices downloading and uploading information, constantly. How will this astonishing number of operations influence the speed our own connections and real time data acquisition? The answer is – a lot. And since entire industries, businesses, and enterprises of all sizes rely on real time data when they are making their decisions, this issue may present a catastrophic outcome for many.
So what can we do? What’s the solution? Actually, this answer is also a very simple one – our hardware will evolve. And one of the alternatives that might just present the resolution of this problem is called Fog Computing.
Foggy (with a chance of) Computing
Our data centres will soon become overcrowded with the amount of information that we are producing and asking for. We all want, as professionals and as private users, the best possible service, the best cloud storage, the best analytics software, not to mention that we want our data to be secure and encrypted. The problem is – all of that information is stored and processed within our data centres. They are computing, receiving and delivering information to a rapidly growing number of users, constantly. This is why alternatives such as Fog Computing present a much needed aid.
The effective resolution may just be a simple decentralisation of the very computing process and data acquisition. The idea of relocating 90 per cent of the process to a local cloud computing server, and concentrating our data requests to only those which seek for outside information, is called Fog Computing. This means that we will have a piece of hardware, presumably not larger than our current Internet modem. And while today all of the cloud computing process happens in the data centre of our service provider, or in the data centre of our platform provider, in the future we will probably have our very own, private cloud computing server that will handle all the grunt work. This method will allow us to have the channels of communication open for much more important tasks, such as real time acquisition. It will also have a positive effect on the current, alarming state of cybercrime. Since your vendors won’t be swamped by multiple requests, they will probably have a more transparent insight on threats and will presumably even discover them much sooner.
Of course, this decentralisation of data and cloud computing will bring a great variety of other questions. Such as access control, the process of authentication, not to mention the very location of your most valuable files.
However, transferring to a complex system of this sort will also have quite a few drawbacks. It isn’t all about the question of security of a system like this one, but also a question of marketing. How will industries, and individual users, accept this trend that will soon become a harsh reality and a necessity? With some of the industry leaders already working on developing their Fog Computing strategies, and with so many smaller businesses and enterprises still unaware of this upcoming problem – we are bound to witness yet another long and tiresome adapting process.
[easy-tweet tweet=”Fog Computing will need years to prove itself as a mandatory addition to our #cloud computing world”]
So although it is inevitable, Fog Computing will need years to prove itself as a mandatory addition to our cloud computing world. In the meantime, enjoy your Internet speed, because as scary as it may sound – you might just end up missing it.
Nate Vickery, Editor-in-Chief at bizzmarkblog.com.
Nate Vickery is a business consultant and author mostly focused on bringing the latest technology trends closer to startups and small business owners. Nate is also the editor-in-chief at bizzmarkblog.com.
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