Fog computing is a new networking paradigm that extends cloud computing to the edge of the network, enabling data processing to occur closer to sensors and devices. It involves using small computing devices with storage and networking capabilities at the edge of the network, rather than sending all data to the cloud. This allows for real-time response and processing of data from the billions of devices that will be connected as part of the Internet of Everything. Cisco researchers are developing the architecture for fog computing to help support the growth of smart grids, smart cities, and other applications requiring low latency processing of data from devices.

1. Fog Computing - CEC - Cisco Confidential
http://wwwin.cisco.com/tech/innovation/fog/index.shtml[2/8/2014 2:52:06 PM]
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These innovators have their sights set "low" – on an emerging networking
paradigm that echoes cloud computing but is "much closer to the ground,"
according to Flavio Bonomi. (Clockwise from upper left: Flavio, Jiang Zhu,
Don Banks, and Rodolfo Milito.)
About Fog Computing The Fog Four Resources & Related Sites
Watch the video: Cisco fellow Flavio
Bonomi shares his passion of fog
computing and explains the importance of
this trend as the Internet of Everything is
realized
"The Internet of Everything is changing
how we interact with the real world.
Things that were totally disconnected
from the Internet before, such as cars,
are now merging onto it."
Fog Computing: The Platform That Could Launch A Trillion Objects
As the Internet of Everything heats up, Cisco engineers propose a new networking paradigm for the edge of the
network
Early on November 3, 2007, heavy fog caused a traffic pile-up that eventually
included 108 passenger vehicles and 18 big-rig trucks on a busy highway in
California's San Joaquin Valley.
Fog may provide life-sustaining moisture for California's ancient sequoia trees, but
it has been the bane of transportation ever since the first stage coaches began
clattering up and down the Golden State in the mid-1800s.
Some 150 years later, a new kind of fog emanating out of Silicon Valley could
make traffic pile-ups worldwide a thing of the past.
Fog computing (also known as distributed field area networking) would use small
devices, each with some computing, storage, and networking capability, at the very
edge of the network. Each tiny, hardened "data center in a box" could process
certain transactions locally – which would be faster and more efficient than
sending them to the cloud and back. When the truck ahead of you brakes unexpectedly, you want your car's sensors to get
that information from the other vehicle instantly. And some data – such as available parking spaces at the mall – might
have no lasting value and never need to go to the cloud at all.
"Fog is an expansion of the cloud paradigm," says Cisco Fellow Flavio Bonomi, who leads the Advanced Architecture and
Research team. "It's similar to cloud but closer to the ground. Fog computing architecture extends the cloud out into the real
world, the physical world of things."
Fog computing would support sensors (which typically measure, detect, and collect data) and actuators – which are devices
that can perform a physical action such as closing a valve, moving the arms of a robot, or exercising the brakes in a car.
Fog could also take a burden off the network. As 50 billion objects become
connected worldwide by 2020, it will not make sense to handle everything in the
cloud. Distributed apps and edge-computing devices need distributed resources.
Fog brings computers to the data. Low-power devices, close to the edge of the
network, can deliver real-time response.
Smart grid is a good example. "You cannot drive the smart grid from the cloud.
You need to be able to react at the periphery, quickly," Flavio says.
Fog could also handle critical data in places where access to the cloud is difficult, slow, or expensive. On a deep-sea oil
rig, the fog device would monitor vital sensors in real time but transmit only select or aggregated data over the satellite
connection.
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2. Fog Computing - CEC - Cisco Confidential
http://wwwin.cisco.com/tech/innovation/fog/index.shtml[2/8/2014 2:52:06 PM]
"This is the beginning of an incredible
30- to 40-year process and build-out.
Cisco can be a major contributor to an
enormous transition. If we don't,
others will – and they will be the future
winners in IT."
Fog may seem intuitively obvious to some but it's extremely disruptive to traditional networking. Distinguished Engineer Don
Banks is working with the fog team to develop the architecture for fog computing, and he says that introducing a new
networking paradigm is the biggest challenge.
"Unlike routers or switches, fog computing devices are multi-use," Don says. "They provide computing, storage, and
networking in one device. And they're multi-tenant, which means that one device could support several different
organizations and companies. That requires a highly virtualized and secure system architecture."
According to Technical Leader Jiang Zhu, whose expertise is distributed
computing, "The edge of the network is a different landscape. The environment
changes dynamically. Users come and go, and there are big peaks and valleys in
demand. And there are all kinds of devices, using many operating systems and
computing architectures."
As Big Data and the Internet of Everything pick up steam, the complexities will be
compounded. That's why Jiang's role is called "orchestration." The conductor behind the scenes, he is developing policy-
based orchestration systems and a common interface so that all devices speak a common language and the large-scale
distribution of applications and services at the edge of the network is possible.
At first, specialized devices might be needed for data from some proprietary industry networks. Eventually, all networks are
likely to migrate to IP because it is less expensive and lets companies take advantage of the Internet of Everything.
Technical Leader Rodolfo Milito, one of Cisco's thought leaders in fog computing, has developed compelling use cases for
the oil and gas industry, healthcare, retail, transportation, Smart and Connected Communities, and Smart Grid. In the future,
he says, multiple homes in a neighborhood might even share a small "edge data center."
"The Internet of Everything is changing how we interact with the real world," Rodolfo says. "Things that were totally
disconnected from the Internet before, such as cars, are now merging onto it. But as we go from one billion endpoints to
one trillion endpoints worldwide, that creates not only a real scalability problem but the challenge of dealing with complex
clusters of endpoints – what we call 'rich systems' – in addition to individual endpoints. Fog's hardware infrastructure and
software platform helps solve that."
In addition to Don, Flavio, Jiang, and Rodolfo, the fog initiative benefits from the contributions of many members of
Advanced Architecture and Research and beyond, including Chuck Byers, David Maluf, Xiaoqing Zhu, Hao Hu, Mythili
Prabhu, Preethi Natarajan, Sateesh Addepalli, Mario Nemirovsky, Yuval Bachar, and others. Thanks to the Tech Fund, the
team has also added Marcelo Yannuzzi, Xavi Masip, and Rene Serral-Gracia in Barcelona, who are working on advanced
applications demos.
The Internet of Everything is a potentially huge market transition, and fog computing is a platform that will enable it.
"This is an amazing, amazing time," Flavio says. "This is the beginning of an incredible 30- to 40-year process and build-
out. Cisco can be a major contributor to an enormous transition. If we don't, others will – and they will be the future winners
in IT."
Cisco Systems, Inc. Cisco Confidential
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