Serious question: can someone describe to me or point me to a blog post about what 'edge' computing can do? I am having a hard time understanding what the difference is between it and 'normal' cloud infra where end-clients call to a central cloud service. In other words, what is the architectural difference between Snapchat, where many end devices have a thick-client connection to a central service, and 'edge' computing?
I was about to implement 'Edge Servers' for my MMO game system. However, in that context, those have commonly been other cloud instances running somewhere like AWS, which act as an intermediary to the client. My own 'Edge Servers' would maintain Websocket and WebRTC connections, and perhaps authoritatively implement a 'Player State' state machine. They would have a security function somewhat like a firewall ro reduce attack surface, though they wouldn't replace a firewall, but rather work in conjunction with one and behind one.<p>The OpenEdge seems to be more of a traditional 'Edge' server for static assets, but combined with a lambda. I wonder if this concept could be extended for something like my 'Edge Servers' which require more stateful operation? Can stateful cloud assets be given more advantageous network placement, like other 'Edge' servers?
Hopefully it drowns out google results for OpenEdge ABL, formerly known as Progress. Awful 4GL programming language/database (don't ask me how I know).