Have you ever had a package lost when it was about to arrive at your destination? As the holidays come, many of us are ordering and sending packages, hoping they will arrive in time.  Delivering packages to destinations requires a postal or express sorting center network to effectively deliver packages to destinations.

From a text message to a complex code to operate an autonomous vehicle, to some extent, the data and the package are the same. To get the data “packet” from point A to point B, it is essential to avoid bottlenecks. In fact, this is more important than ever because we have sent a record amount of data: in the minute you read this article, more than 18 million text messages and 187 million emails have been sent. If there is no effective network to process the request, the last text message you sent will not be transmitted more efficiently than the holiday package that was transported to the wrong sorting center.

This is why the edge data center was born. They store and process a local copy of the data you may need, thereby allowing your request to be processed on the network. By bringing this data and processing closer to your location, you can get a faster response, which means that video or higher-resolution TV streams load faster. This is more important than ever, because machine learning, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, telemedicine, intelligent transportation, etc. drive data demand.

All these emerging applications require ultra-low latency provided by edge computing.  Latency refers to the round-trip time for the data center to receive the request, process the request, and send back necessary information (such as video, text response, etc.). Historically, network capacity and technology have determined latency-imagine the difference in Internet speed between dial-up and fiber broadband.

To understand why edge computing is so valuable, let us look at a case: cloud gaming. This is where the game runs on the data center server, not your home PC or game console. The game will be streamed to your TV in real time, and your control input will be sent to the data center in real time, allowing you to control your game character. This allows users without high-end consoles or PCs to play the latest games-but it requires incredibly low latency, otherwise the game will lag and be choppy.

As we begin to implement new technologies such as cloud gaming, the existing network capacity and technology are not enough to support large-scale use. To make these technologies possible, service providers are moving data centers closer to the “edge” of the network. In this way, the distance of data transmission before processing is shorter, and the delay is reduced to the level necessary to support these emerging applications.

Edge computing is not only suitable for these emerging low-latency applications. It can also play an important role in mainstream data-intensive applications.

When you click to watch the online video, the request will go through the network, from the mobile phone to the wireless base station tower, through the optical fiber and cable, and finally arrive at the data center containing the video you requested. The transmission of this information through the network requires a cost in the form of electricity- the farther the transmission is, the higher the cost. Since sustainability is the operator’s top priority, reducing the use of electricity is both financially and socially important. The edge data center is a key component of providing excellent service while maintaining acceptable cost levels.

Drivers of edge computing: emerging applications that require lower latency levels. Although we generate large amounts of data every day, we still have to reduce costs and do so in a sustainable manner. Although these emerging applications are exciting, the reality of edge computing lies in the cost-effectiveness it generates for data center operators. Edge computing is not only an essential part of the future of sustainable networks, but also a key driving force for future technologies.  Just as the logistics network is investing in its distribution infrastructure to effectively meet future needs, communications also need to invest in edge infrastructure to do this.