Insight: Interconnecting the IoT with Cloud Computing
Shawn Martin | December 01, 2016Interconnecting the Internet of Things (IoT) with cloud computing technologies is a paradigm that is poised to enable a breadth of services for a multitude of applications.
As the pitfalls of traditional LANs--including bandwidth issues, infrastructure overhead, and available server space--once made a market for cloud computing, the remote architecture is now evolving to empower next-generation smart environments and tackle the same problem in virtual space.
Cloud Computing
Cloud computing alleviates limitations of local hardware by offering access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources. Rather than defining your business model through resource limitations, cloud computing formulates the solution as an economical service that replaces resource investments in networks, servers, storage, and applications.
The robust architecture can scale to business needs all while offering a declining overhead. The adaptation of cloud computing into the growing field of IoT is inevitable, but with it comes growing pains.
Cloud computing came to market with centralized data centers. In the mindset of "go big or don’t go at all," cloud computing’s premise was to offer a solution with the capacity to fulfill the needs of big data. Early adaptation and success has been exemplified with consumer on-demand products and related hardware that make use of the cloud to augment the lack of internal storage capacity.
Moving forward, the anticipated uptake in cloud computing has spawned a wave of innovation. Fueled by an IoT cloud computing paradigm, ingenuity seeks to tackle storage and bandwidth limitations of traditional cloud computing architecture through a distributed cloud network model.
Distributed Cloud Networks
Efficient integration of IoT and cloud computing technologies is a requirement for next-generation smart environments. To achieve this, developers address the anticipated uptake in cloud computing resources that would otherwise lead to network stress, network latencies, and excessive power consumption with distributed cloud networks.
The anticipated cloud service distribution problem (CSDP) exists as intermittent connectivity of end devices and creates a bandwidth problem that leads to excessive power consumption, overall network latency, and lost revenue. To solve the problem, developers move to optimize computing, storage, and transport resources.
Distributed cloud networking architecture combats CSDP with a hierarchy of edge cloud nodes that deliver service at a regional level. The hierarchy includes a set of large data centers, regional data centers, and end nodes, and even incorporates device capabilities.
End nodes, also referred to as cloudlets, leverage device capability and function together to filter raw data and reduce bandwidth issues. The localization of computing resources acts to increase responsiveness in low-latency rea-time IoT applications while the interconnected resources offer scalability, flexibility, and overall improved quality of service.
Do or can the IOT devices serve as end nodes, as well?
Yes, end nodes alleviate bandwidth issues by handling data received by other devices experiencing intermittent connectivity. They are the IoT device that bridges the gap between senors not equipped with IoT functionality and cloud computing resources.