An Empirical Study in Edge Computing Using AWS

As more computing shifts to a mobile, spread out model, previous issues ran into by the cloud become more evident. Often many users are not located closely to the cloud, thus causing greater latency to the user. To address this issue, edge computing has been suggested as an alternative to traditional cloud computing model. Edge computing attempts to bring data processing closer by implementing edge locations nearby the user geographically. This allows users to experience lower latency, as well as faster response times for applications. As content can be cached at the edge servers to further improve performance. While edge computing attempts to address the shortfalls of traditional cloud computing, edge computing still requires the end user to manage the application environment. AWS has led the way with their server-less architecture solutions such as AWS Lambda. The goal of server-less web applications is to allow programmers to focus solely on development and leave managing the environment to someone else. This method offers several benefits in price, as you minimize the number of resources you must use. In this paper we aim to compare AWS cloud services in five test cases, the goal being to see which service provides the fastest performance at the best price point.