The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to the process of connecting physical objects to the internet. IoT refers to any system of physical devices or hardware that receive and transfer data over networks without any human intervention. A typical IoT system works by continuously sending, receiving, and analyzing data in a feedback loop. Analysis can be conducted either by humans or artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML), in near real-time or over a longer period.
If something is referred to as smart, that generally implies IoT. Think of self-driving cars, smart homes, smartwatches, virtual and augmented reality, and industrial IoT, for example.
Edge computing takes place at or near the physical location of either the user or the source of the data. By placing computing services closer to these locations, users benefit from faster, more reliable services with better user experiences, while companies benefit by being better able to support latency-sensitive applications, identify trends, and offer better products and services.
Edge computing is one way that a company can use and distribute a common pool of resources across a large number of locations to help scale centralized infrastructure to meet the needs of increasing numbers of devices and data.
