Whither Edge Computing? – A Futuristic Review

It is a well-known fact that the current day Internet is increasingly becoming laden with content that is bandwidth demanding due to ever-increasing number of things getting attached on a day-in and day-out basis. Hand-in-hand, mobile networks and data networks are converging into cloud computing bandwagon. Edge computing as a promising feature has already made inroads to face future requirements and to address exponential demands from cloud. This feature is all about inserting computing power and storage in the vicinity of the network edge. It is asserted that this scheme of operation brings down the data transport time, quick response times and increased availability. Edge computing brings bandwidth-intensive content and latency-sensitive applications closer to the user or data source. In this paper, we explain the drivers of edge computing and have delved on various types of edge computing currently available and going to throng in near future. This paper is intended to draw a comprehensive picture of what is happening in edge currently and what would happen in the near foreseeable future.