cloudlets

Cloudlets are small-scale compute resources placed near users to provide cloud-like services with reduced latency and bandwidth usage. They form an intermediate layer between distant central cloud data centers and end devices, allowing offloading of computation, storage, and data processing to a nearby node. The concept was introduced by Satyanarayanan et al. in 2009 to address mobile and pervasive computing workloads requiring fast responses.

Architecture and deployment: A cloudlet is typically a server or cluster equipped with virtualization or containerization capabilities and connected to local wireless networks and the wider internet. Cloudlets can be deployed in base stations, access points, campus data centers, or enterprise facilities. They are managed by orchestration software to host applications and provide execution environments for offloaded tasks.

Functions and use cases: Cloudlets support task offloading, real-time data processing, streaming analytics, and caching. They enable latency-sensitive applications such as augmented reality, real-time video analytics, mobile gaming, and autonomous or semi-autonomous systems by keeping active computation closer to user devices.

Relation to broader models: Cloudlets are part of the edge computing and fog computing paradigms. They emphasize proximity to users and often operate at the network edge to reduce backhaul traffic.

Challenges and considerations: Deployment cost and maintenance, hardware heterogeneity, mobility management, resource provisioning, and security and privacy concerns, including isolation and trust in multi-tenant environments.

Research and industry context: Cloudlets remain an area of ongoing study with continued interest from academia and industry in standardized interfaces, orchestration, and robust security models.