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Why Fog Networking Is Key to IoT Success

  • Why Fog Networking Is Key to IoT Success-

    What Is Fog Networking?

    According to FOGnetworks.com, fog networking is a network architecture that uses one or more end-user clients or near-user edge devices to carry out a substantial amount of storage (rather than stored primarily in cloud data centers), communication (rather than routed over backbone networks), and control, configuration, measurement and management (rather than controlled primarily by network gateways such as those in the Long-Term Evolution core). More simply, fog networking distributes computation functions closer to the endpoints generating the data. Fog networking is often used interchangeably with the more generic term "edge computing."

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Why Fog Networking Is Key to IoT Success

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  • Why Fog Networking Is Key to IoT Success-2

    What Is Fog Networking?

    According to FOGnetworks.com, fog networking is a network architecture that uses one or more end-user clients or near-user edge devices to carry out a substantial amount of storage (rather than stored primarily in cloud data centers), communication (rather than routed over backbone networks), and control, configuration, measurement and management (rather than controlled primarily by network gateways such as those in the Long-Term Evolution core). More simply, fog networking distributes computation functions closer to the endpoints generating the data. Fog networking is often used interchangeably with the more generic term "edge computing."

According to Gartner, a staggering 25 billion "things" will be connected to the Internet by 2020. While much of the hype focuses on the significant convenience that the Internet of Things (IoT) will provide – from traffic management to at-home health care – it will require serious investments in the network to make these innovations a reality. The forecast for what happens when you take into account these new devices and the resulting terabits of data they will generate is 100 percent predictable – "fog" will be almost everywhere you go. But what does this mean?

Loudon Blair, senior director, Corporate Strategy Office, Ciena, sees firsthand how the impending explosion of IoT is challenging all kinds of network owners to reexamine the capabilities required to support computing demands. In this slideshow, Blair explains fog computing and illustrates why it is essential to making IoT a success.