High-performance at the edge of the IIoT

The Internet of Things and increasing network bandwidths are significantly changing the way applications are designed. Edge and fog computing provide extremely powerful server technology at the edge of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). Server-on-Modules from congatec with Intel® Xeon® processor technology target precisely this application field.

Edge servers are deployed on the verges of the Internet. Because they perform important tasks for the network as well as the local applications, they are – in addition to IoT gateways – the most important building block for the IIoT. Fog computers fulfil very similar functions. But what exactly is fog computing? The term was coined in analogy to cloud servers: In contrast to clouds, fog settles in the valley. Clouds are high up in the network, fogs are low down at the local IIoT level. This sums up the difference between cloud and fog servers. Unlike edge servers, fog servers add real-time virtualization across multiple systems to the picture.