Fog Computing is the term introduced by Cisco that refers to extending cloud computing to an edge of the enterprise’s network. Thus, it is also known as Edge Computing or Fogging. It facilitates the operation of computing, storage, and networking services between end devices and computing data centers.
The term fog computing was coined by Cisco in January 2014. This was because fog is referred to as clouds that are close to the ground in the same way fog computing was related to the nodes which are present near the nodes somewhere in between the host and the cloud. It was intended to bring the computational capabilities of the system close to the host machine. After this gained a little popularity, IBM, in 2015, coined a similar term called “Edge Computing”.
Finally, fog computing delivers cloud capabilities to the edge of networks, increasing efficiency, lowering latency, and improving data processing capabilities. It is perfect for real-time data analysis, low-latency applications such as IoT, and situations where data privacy and security are critical. While it provides scalability and lower bandwidth usage, it also has issues in managing data congestion and increasing power consumption. Fog computing is making progress in applications such as healthcare monitoring, industrial IoT, and real-time analytics across a variety of industries.