Edge computing devices come in various forms, but they can generally be classified into three categories:
1. Gateways: These are hardware devices that act as the intermediary between the cloud/application and edge devices. Gateways are typically used to aggregate data from a group of related edge devices and send that data to the cloud for further processing. They work as a bridge to connect the edge devices to the cloud, and often act as a firewall to secure IoT devices.
2. Edge servers: These are more powerful computing devices that are installed at the edge of the network to process and analyze data locally. They can host applications, run algorithms, and perform data analytics, reducing the amount of data that needs to be transmitted to the cloud. This ensures that critical information is processed faster and reduces the latency in the system.
3. Edge devices: These are small, low-power devices that are connected to the edge servers or gateways. They are the endpoints of IoT devices and can collect, process, and transmit data to the cloud. Examples of edge devices include sensors, cameras, wearables, and mobile phones.
To sum up, gateways act as a mediator between edge devices and the cloud, edge servers process data at the edge of the network, while edge devices collect and transmit data.