Edge Computing: Does It Matter Which Servers You Choose for the Edge?

An edge data center is small, lightweight, in many cases surprisingly portable, and designed to withstand extreme climate differences without being staffed by human beings. It’s being marketed to enterprises as an alternative to colocation or the cloud, for specialized applications that require close access to the data being gathered, or stationed at a closer distribution point to the end customer, such as video analysis and pre-processing for remote cameras.

But the usefulness of an edge data center will only be determined by the performance of the edge servers it contains. And what are these things, really?

There are no fewer than three schools of thought with respect to what an edge server should be. They are notalternative strategies to one another — three choices on a shelf, where you pick the best for your particular needs. Each represents a design principle, a direction in which its proponents believe the direction of edge architecture should lead.

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