IoT hubs are a great way to manage your Internet of Things connected devices. If your business has an IoT application, this is one technology you should definitely have.
An IoT hub helps businesses manage the bi-directional communication between an IoT application and the devices it manages. IoT devices are growing in number, and having the right IoT solutions like this one to back them up is becoming essential. Not having them becomes a major threat to companies, as they risk becoming gridlocked in legacy technologies that are inadequate to today’s business requirements.
Azure IoT Hub is probably the most popular alternative in the market to manage bi-directional communication on the Internet of Things. Understand its benefits and implement this managed service in order to properly process data while scaling and securing your IoT networks.
In this post, we discuss what IoT hubs are and how Azure IoT solutions can help your business manage IoT devices properly. An IoT hub is something that any company with an IoT app should consider to maintain a reliable and secure network.
What Are IoT Hubs?
An IoT hub is a way to centrally manage bi-directional communications between IoT devices and an IoT application. In other words, an IoT hub is a technology that companies can use to manage device-to-cloud data and vice versa.
Although the cloud has allowed companies to make smarter use of their data, it needs to be set up correctly. Device-to-cloud communication needs to be optimized in order for resources like servers to perform at an efficient level. Bi-directional communication of data occurring between IoT devices and an IoT application needs to be considered throughout the different stages of any cloud app development project.
By using a platform like an IoT hub to manage bi-directional communication between different IoT devices and an IoT application, businesses can guarantee a reliable and secure connection. This is something that is gaining more relevance as security issues become more common among app users.
An IoT hub can be used to support some of the following messaging patterns:
- Device-to-cloud telemetry
- Request-reply methods
- File upload from devices
Why Use an IoT Hub?
As the number of connected devices on the Internet of Things increases, many possibilities open up for businesses. However, this also poses new challenges. Companies need to find ways to manage both the hardware and the software involved with IoT solutions in a reliable and secure way.
Failing to do so may compromise critical infrastructure and important business processes as well as the IoT solutions being used. Most importantly, it can compromise sensitive data being moved around between the cloud and the different connected devices. Luckily, an IoT hub is a way to face these challenges.
An IoT hub that uses a solution like the Azure IoT Hub can help your business address important issues that arise throughout bi-directional communications, like:
- Data
- Security
- Scalability
IoT Hub Data
Data has become one of the most critical aspects when it comes to IoT solutions. To manage IoT devices and their data requirements, one of the aspects to focus on is the data architecture being used. An IoT hub helps with this.
Manipulating data usually involves an IoT application and the different IoT devices that collect the data. The former is the preferred way for users to perform various tasks involving the different connected devices. It is important for an IoT application to deliver a powerful User Experience, but it doesn’t stop there. It must also consider important operational aspects involving device-to-cloud configurations directly related to security and resource optimization.
Additionally, IoT solutions also require a guarantee that IoT devices are correctly set up. IoT devices are the ones responsible for making sure that information is obtained in the first place and then sent to the relevant servers. A large part of the device-to-cloud data exchange requires them to function under the right systems architecture and the different IoT technologies available.
IoT Hub Security
There is a lot that can go wrong in the bi-directional communication of data between IoT devices and an IoT application. Using a tool like Azure IoT Hub helps guarantee reliable and secure device-to-cloud communication.
The Azure IoT Hub and other IoT hub solutions can help your business make sure the devices it manages are correctly authenticated. Enhancing security by making use of per-device authentication helps prevent potential issues that might arise and makes the task of managing the different IoT devices less of a burden.
IoT Hub Scaling
Scaling complex IoT networks is not an easy task. Making use of a managed service like the Azure IoT Hub can help your IoT application scale easily, even when the number of IoT-connected devices is high.
To make sure that scaling is not a problem, you must manage your project in such a way that your IoT app is in line with your IoT hub.
IoT Hubs: Final Thoughts
Guaranteeing the success of your IoT solutions strongly depends on the connection of your IoT devices. To guarantee the quality of your IoT application and network, using an IoT hub might be a great alternative.
This is something that needs to be considered directly in your IoT app development project. The best way to implement one is to talk to your trusted app development partner. They will surely be able to guide you throughout the process of choosing between the different IoT hubs as well as the process of implementing one.
