INTRODUCTION
Azure Internet of Things, in simpler terms, Azure IoT is nothing but a cohesive form of cloud services that are further managed by Microsoft for monitoring, connecting and controlling the assets of the Internet of Things. In other words, Azure IoT is a one-stop solution that works and operates in the cloud. It is made up of one or more than one IoT device and several back-end services that communicate with each other. Safety and security is something that Azure IoT prioritises the most. One can safely and securely link several devices and their back-end solutions.
Azure IoT devices, tools and data analytics offer a hand to organisations across various industries, thereby, helping them improve their business, manage and achieve their IoT goals.
Coming to the main components of Azure IoT hub, one would prioritise devices and back-end services, and a firm communication between the two.
Devices
IoT devices have a sensor attached to them and it transmits data from one object to another with the internet’s help, just like pressure sensors on a remote oil pump, temperature and humidity sensors in an air-conditioning unit or accelerometers in an elevator. They are attached to an object which further operates through the internet and enables the transfer of data among objects and people conveniently without any sort of human intervention.
Needless to say, these devices can even communicate through a Wi-Fi chip.
COMMUNICATION
Communication in IoT devices acts as a connection between devices and back-end services. With the help of Azure IoT Hub, you can connect, manage as well as scale your IoT device for safe communication along with back-end services in both directions.
Some examples are –
- Sending temperature from a mobile refrigeration truck in regular intervals of 5 minutes to an IoT hub.
- It is on the back-end service to ask the device to send telemetry more frequently to help identify an issue.
- The device can also send alerts based on the values read from the sensors. For instance, while monitoring a batch reactor in a chemical plant, you might want to send an alert when the temperature exceeds a particular value.
BACK-END SERVICES
Functions like analysing the telemetry to provide insights, either in real-time or after the fact, controlling which devices can connect to your infrastructure, or sending commands from the cloud to a specific device are usually performed by back-end services. It also controls the state of your devices and monitors their activities.
Back-end services also perform the function of provisioning devices and controlling the devices that connect to your infrastructure.
SERVICES OFFERED
Microsoft is offering eight different IoT services in Azure. One must figure out sincerely, which one of these options or services would fit their needs well. Some of these services are –
- IoT Central: It makes the platform of IoT solutions way simpler and assists to reduce the heavy load and expense of IoT management operations as well as development. The basic intention of this particular service is a straightforward, clear-cut solution that doesn’t need any service customisation.
- IoT Solution accelerators: It is a group of PaaS solutions that can be used to escalate the development of an IoT solution.
- IoT Hub: This particular service allows you to control a considerable number of IoT devices, which can even go up to a billion, by logging into an IoT hub from your device. The utmost need for this would arise when you want communication that goes both ways between your devices and back-end. It is the primary and fundamental service for IoT solution accelerators and IoT Central.
- IoT Hub Device Provisioning Service: It assists IoT Hub in a way that you can use to safely and securely provision devices on your IoT hub. Rather than provisioning a lot of devices one at each time, this service offers you the prerogative to quickly and easily provision millions of devices all at the same time.
- IoT Edge: This service can be used to analyse data on IoT devices instead of in the cloud. It builds on the very top of the IoT Hub.
What is MQTT
MQTT is a publish/subscribe protocol that is used by IoT devices to communicate with one another.
MQTT stands for “Messaging Queuing Telemetry Transport” and it operates on restricted low bandwidth networks and the ones with high latency. MQTT runs on TCP/IP, and in any order, bidirectional connections can support it easily and conveniently.
The data that is sent over the network through MQTT protocol is strictly application-specific.
CONCLUSION
Azure IoT hub, in a simpler sense, is a central message hub used for bidirectional communication between an IoT application and the device it manages. MQTT may be used to communicate with the IoT hub.