ENORM: A Framework For Edge NOde Resource Management

TLDR

Cloud‑centric computing will become untenable as billions of devices connect, creating a need for fog computing that leverages edge nodes but requires effective edge‑node management. This paper aims to solve the edge‑node resource‑management challenge. The authors introduce ENORM, a framework that provisions and auto‑scales edge resources, validated on a Pokémon‑Go‑like online game. ENORM reduces application latency by 20–80 % and cuts edge‑cloud data transfer by up to 95 %, demonstrating fog computing’s potential to improve QoS.

Abstract

Current computing techniques using the cloud as a centralised server will become untenable as billions of devices get connected to the Internet. This raises the need for fog computing, which leverages computing at the edge of the network on nodes, such as routers, base stations and switches, along with the cloud. However, to realise fog computing the challenge of managing edge nodes will need to be addressed. This paper is motivated to address the resource management challenge. We develop the first framework to manage edge nodes, namely the Edge NOde Resource Management (ENORM) framework. Mechanisms for provisioning and auto-scaling edge node resources are proposed. The feasibility of the framework is demonstrated on a PokéMon Go-like online game use-case. The benefits of using ENORM are observed by reduced application latency between 20-80 percent and reduced data transfer and communication frequency between the edge node and the cloud by up to 95 percent. These results highlight the potential of fog computing for improving the quality of service and experience.