Even if you're not in the computer industry, you've probably heard of cloud computing, and you may even have heard of edge computing. If you're working on IT architecture or operations design, you should also know fog computing.
Cloud computing is like this, although you don't know where the server is, but your WeChat Pay or Alipay payment is what it does
These various calculations in the clouds and fog must have made ordinary people dizzy. One moment talks about the centralized advantage and computing power advantage of the cloud, and the next moment talks about the speed advantage or privacy advantage of the end.
Edge computing has clear goals, so it's fast and responsive, but it doesn't know what happens to those other edges
This situation is likely to make the layman think that this is either the incompetence of the technologists or the conspiracy of the business group. In a way, these laymen's judgments are indeed correct! However, it is only "to some extent".
Obviously, it is the technology that does not work to make these things, and every day they brag that they are new technologies, and you are fooling people we don't understand!
It is necessary to comb through the "calculations" of various magical names. This is a popular science article that can be basically understood by liberal arts students, and its greatest value is not popular science in the usual sense, but value transmission in the deep sense.
The greater value of this article lies in the evolutionary logic of the application of technology in the conflict between ideal and reality. This evolutionary logic is also common to any other field. The value of exploring the underlying logic is the value of philosophical thinking.
Cloud computing, popularly interpreted as "cloud" computing, cloud refers to remote computing centers. Powerful technology companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Alibaba, Tencent, and Huawei all have their own computing centers, all have strong cloud computing capabilities, and provide commercial cloud services to the outside world.
Amazon's cloud services are the world's largest cloud computing hub. Bezos once again makes people understand: it is people outside the industry who are subverting you!
In China, many institutions, companies, and governments have deployed information systems on the powerful Alibaba Cloud, which has made many small and micro computing centers or computer rooms disappear, and many IT operation and maintenance personnel disappear. Alibaba Cloud's service capabilities make the original booth of servers look very low.
Alibaba Cloud should be the largest computing cloud service in China. Ma Yun also proved to the world: those who subvert you are people outside the industry!
Edge computing, popularly interpreted as "local" computing, local refers to local servers, which cooperate with the cloud to complete some computing tasks. Why they exist: reducing the pressure on computing and transmission bandwidth in the cloud.
Edge computing is usually related to the Internet of Things, the Internet of Vehicles, and the metaverse, making people feel that edge computing is very tall. However, the clear-headed person immediately faces schizophrenia: one moment saying that concentration is good, the other is saying that dispersion is wonderful, what are you going to do?
The universe has not been clearly understood, and there is another metaverse! Why do you make us not understand bits' human feelings?
According to scientific thinking, there is no problem at all. Because, objectively speaking, compared with the realization of real needs, technical incompetence does exist, and commercial conspiracies also exist.
To explain this matter from a scientific point of view, it is best to use the principle of "Occam's Razor". The popular description of Occam's razor is "do not add entities unless necessary". It is a value judgment or pursuit based on aesthetics and logic. In other words, the Chinese saying is "avenue to jane", "big sound xisheng" and "elephant invisible".
Occam Razor Principle: If not necessary, do not add entities! This is certainly one of the great minds of mankind!
If the data comes from multiple decentralized ends, and the computed results after the data are collected, then cloud computing must be generated and must exist. This led to the birth of the data center, which led to the birth of server clusters.
The reason why you can see the road situation on the navigation software is because many people use the same navigation software and authorize the location information to the navigation software, and after the cloud receives a lot of "terminal" movement conditions, it can "calculate" the congestion of the road.
The navigation system keeps you from getting lost in unfamiliar cities, but it also makes your brain's ability to remember physical space decline. Technology is a double-edged sword!
Chinese neighborhoods are full of "sky eyes", and if you want to find a criminal, you need to identify and compare the faces of each camera with the faces of criminals. Such calculations must be done in the cloud, because the cloud can aggregate all the camera data and have strong computing power.
Heavenly Eyes are everywhere! Identifying criminals is a good thing! But whether citizens' privacy can be effectively protected is very important.
However, when there are thousands of cameras, and the cameras are hundreds of kilometers away from the data center of the cloud, then the use of cloud computing will not catch criminals at all.
This is because transmitting a large amount of camera video data to a central server hundreds of kilometers away will inevitably face bandwidth and computing power limitations. Almost certainly, by waiting for the cloud to calculate the face comparison results and feed them back into the public security system, the criminals will have left the neighborhood long ago.
Don't worry, the tech gurus have a way, they came up with the "edge computing" solution: deploy a computer under each camera, and the computing is done by the local computer. Once they find a criminal, they upload the location of the criminal to the cloud, which can track the trajectory of the criminal in quasi-real time.
However, is the problem solved perfectly? Not really. Since there is an "input-output" costing for anything, if the input of this set of solutions is insufficient, then its vitality is limited.
As the number of cameras increases, there is a large increase in computers, and the cost of software related to individual computers is also increased. In order to reduce costs and simplify the implementation of the project, the big coffee came up with a "compromise" solution: let multiple cameras share a computer.
However, when the number of those computers reaches a certain scale, the reliability and operating costs of the system will increase significantly. Tech gurus continue to think of ways to build a small cloud service that connects nearby terminals to small cloud servers. Such a computing network is called "mesh", which translates to "fog computing".
The fog calculates the storm, it is not mysterious, it is the son or nephew of those large clouds.
The people responsible for computing in the IT industry are inseparable from the "cloud" and "fog", "end" and "heart", which were not designed at the beginning, but evolved with technical limitations and cost control.
"Computing services" have been struggling on the road to "decentralization" and "decentralization", and it is almost exclusively affected by technology and cost. There is an alternative in the industry called "blockchain", which has shouldered the grand mission of "decentralization" from the beginning.
Evil capital, greedy desire, ignorant brain, will soon destroy the blockchain! Blockchain: I am the little strong who can't die!
Without the limitations of bandwidth or hash rate, blockchain is a disruptive revolution for all "centralized" platforms. Therefore, in order to have power, in order not to be revolutionized, the "central" interest groups will inevitably hit the blockchain without hesitation.
Qin Shi Huang would never have believed in blockchain! It must be a demon! It must be eliminated resolutely, completely and cleanly!
Whatever the cause and effect of an event, any of their existence is justified as long as the Occam Razor Principle is followed. Everyone should recognize and practice the Occam Razor Principle. It stands for the values of simplicity, pragmatism and efficiency.
Tao Ge, August 3, 2022