Here at Cisco, we consider edge computing to mean that data is processed before it crosses any wide area network (WAN). Crossing the WAN—whether to send data to a traditional data center on-prem or in the cloud—introduces latency and incurs additional costs, both of which edge computing is intended to avoid. That being said, there is still flexibility in terms of where you establish the edge – AKA how “edgy” your edge compute is. As with most technologies, the best choice is relative to your use case, which we’ll explore below.
