More than 10 years ago I was first introduced to a tool called Dropbox. The technology made it such that a folder on my file system was just magically and automatically synced to one or more of my friend’s DropBox folders. The concept of moving and sharing files was not mind-blowing, I certainly used networked drives at work, I used tools like Subversion for source control, I used FTP already, but somehow the idea that I could work with what was a local file (word document, PowerPoint, PHP source file) and instantly have it shared just made life so much simpler. There was no heavy-handed check-in, upload, or commit process to work through. Today, whether you use Dropbox, Google Drive, Office 365, or any other number of services, we have all come to expect our files to feel local but transferred to our communities with zero effort.

ClearBlade just announced its latest partnership feature with Google called Edge Buckets as its Dropbox moment for edge files. Today working with CSV files that are generated in remote locations streaming from machines is cumbersome. Developers are writing code, using libraries for file writing, opening and closing sockets to stream data over the internet, and poking holes in firewalls to allow for movement. It’s possible they have even gone back to using some old protocols like FTP. With ClearBlade Edge Buckets it is now possible for your edge data to automatically sync to your cloud and to your other edge devices without any work. The concept is similar to the streaming tool you have been using that simply puts the shared file into the shared folder. From there ClearBlade does all the work and the file is securely transferred back to your cloud and then immediately shared with everyone who is allowed to see it.

Edge Buckets – DropBox for IoT Files

Edges have the potential to generate huge amounts of data. Already we are pushing new standards like 5G to handle the oncoming onslaught of moving all this edge data around. The problem of moving data is hard even when people are involved. Gateways connected to HD video and audio feeds need to send huge amounts back to the cloud. Equipment with accelerometers and vibration sensors need to get nanoseconds of data granularity back to the data scientists. Critical infrastructure produces enormous log files containing audit trails of every action that needs to be stored for liability and compliance. These are files that we want to have placed in a centralized location for long-term safekeeping. These are the files that need the speed of ClearBlade Edge buckets to make the task simple.

Artificial Intelligence requires the gathering of large data sets to make it more intelligent – data is the brain candy that makes things “smart.” These data sets are often built without a clear picture of what data is meaningful and what data will be required. As a consequence, we need all the possible data points to empower our data scientists to look for patterns, select model types, and create the most reliable and accurate inferences. This ultimately means our data scientists are hamstrung waiting for large data sets to be returned from field equipment and ultimately the faster they can get that data the faster they can get started with their optimization and machine learning tasks. The ClearBlade Edge Buckets supports the Data Scientist, allowing them to simply grab the files they need as they are produced without having to build and support a complex new application or script. Of course, these data scientists also benefit from the ClearBlade Edge Buckets feature when it’s time to take the inferences and push them back to the equipment for optimizations that need to occur while the AI is running at the edge.

Many companies are working desperately to digitize their businesses. They recognize the need to replace old processes for automation and optimizations. While much of what they do is specific to their industry and their workflows, they are comprised of core operations like data exchange. Just like shared document clouds being used by enterprises across all industries today, we know that seamlessly moving data between edges allows for digitalization to happen within the current operations of our industries.