Bringing the cloud to the edge

TLDR

Edge services are increasingly critical as the Internet evolves into the Internet of Things, demanding low latency, reduced bandwidth, resilient service, and access to local resources, yet traditional data‑center clouds are ill‑suited for these constraints. We present a new model for cloud computing, the Edge Cloud, that augments the traditional data‑center cloud with service nodes at the network edges to address edge‑specific issues. The Edge Cloud architecture is implemented as an overlay hybrid cloud built on the industry‑standard OpenStack cloud‑management framework. We demonstrate that the Edge Cloud enables two new application classes—high‑accuracy indoor localization that reduces latency, and scalable, resilient video monitoring that cuts bandwidth usage.

Abstract

Edge services become increasingly important as the Internet transforms into an Internet of Things (IoT). Edge services require bounded latency, bandwidth reduction between the edge and the core, service resiliency with graceful degradation, and access to resources visible only inside the NATed and secured edge networks. While the data center based cloud excels at providing general purpose computation/storage at scale, it is not suitable for edge services. We present a new model for cloud computing, which we call the Edge Cloud, that addresses edge computing specific issues by augmenting the traditional data center cloud model with service nodes placed at the network edges. We describe the architecture of the Edge Cloud and its implementation as an overlay hybrid cloud using the industry standard OpenStack cloud management framework. We demonstrate the advantages garnered by two new classes of applications enabled by the Edge Cloud - a highly accurate indoor localization that saves on latency, and a scalable and resilient video monitoring that saves on bandwidth.