Fog and Fogonomics

Preface

In the eternal dance driven by the evolution of technology and its applications, computing infrastructure has evolved through numerous waves, from the mainframe, to the minicomputer, to the personal computer, client‐server, the smartphone, the cloud, and the edge. Whereas the cloud typically is viewed as pooled, centralized resources and the edge comprises the distributed resources that connect to endpoint devices and things, the fog, which is the latest wave, spans the cloud to device continuum.

To understand the fog, it helps to first understand the cloud. Cloud computing has a variety of definitions, ranging from those of standards bodies, to axiomatic and theoretical frameworks, to various vendor and analyst marketing and positioning statements. It typically is viewed as processing, storage, network, platform, software, and services resources that are available to multiple customers and various workload types. These resources are available “for rent” under a variety of pricing models, such as by the hour, by the minute, by the transaction, by the user, and so forth. Further variations include freemium models, discounts for advance reservation and purchase, for sustained flat use, and dynamic pricing. While some analysts define the cloud as having these resources accessed over the (public) Internet, there is no reason that other networking technologies cannot be used as well, ranging from cellular wireless radio access networks to interconnection facilities to dense ...