1. A method of implementing edge-based cloud computing including an edge server that communicates with end users and arranges application resources, the method comprising: determining an edge server from a plurality of geographically distributed edge servers within a cloud to use to communicate with a user device based on an efficiency threshold, wherein a content delivery network comprises the plurality of geographically distributed edge servers; receiving, at the determined edge server, an application service request from a user device; analyzing the application service request to gather metrics about historical responses provided by applications in each of a plurality of clouds; based on the gathered metrics, determining a cloud of the plurality of clouds to which to direct the application service request; forwarding the application service request to a compute platform in the determined cloud; capturing a response to the application service request from the determined cloud; and responding to the application service request.