Azure IoT and IoT hub

Hi Guys, Here is the new blog again with the very new hot technology for the IoT. In this blog, we will be discussing the IoT and IoT hub provided by the Azure. So, let’s start.

What is IoT?

IoT (Internet of things) are the devices available on the networks or in other terms we can say that network of physical devices like vehicles, home appliances which are embedded with some sort of sensors, software, electronics, connectivity etc.

The main purpose is to extend the internet connectivity beyond the standard devices like desktop, laptop, mobiles etc. and with the help of this we could remotely monitor and control that device.

What is Azure IoT Hub?

IoT hub is the connector of IoT things to the cloud provided by Microsoft. Microsoft provides a fully managed cloud service which enables a solution back end and reliable and secure bi-directional communication between millions of IoT devices.

The communication channel has two way :

• Device to Cloud (Device to cloud telemetry data will tell you about the state of your devices)
• Cloud to Device (let you send commands and notifications to your devices connected to the hub)

The main core of Azure IoT hub are :

• IoT Edge – It is a smart device equipped with compute power and can execute services in the field, By processing data at this level so much of the network traffic and transmission can be avoided which helps in minimizing the costs as well as risks.
• Device twins – Its a JSON file in the cloud managed by IoT hub or we can say that it’s a digital representation of your connected device. We can assign some tags to each of the devices present in the IoT hub which further can be used to group the devices based on the location, building number, building level or to address those devices in a bulk
• Reported properties – It shows the reported state of the device which is pushed by the device to the cloud
• Desired properties – It is the state we want the particular device to be in which is pushed by the cloud to the device.

Azure provides a unique key to every device attached to the hub which ultimately helps in identifying the device and let the device so what it supposed to be done only. Which again provides a security layer for the IoT devices.

IoT can be used for communication, Automation, and control, Information, Monitor, saving time and money etc. but also have some disadvantages like – Compatibility, Complexity, Privacy/Security, Safety etc.

Overall if we talk about the monitoring or controlling any physical device IoT could be used in achieving that but you should choose the vendor wisely there are many of the vendors available online but Privacy/Security matters a lot for the IoT devices.

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