How does IoT work?

By CIOReview | Thursday, February 7, 2019

The Internet of Things (IoT) is nothing but internet-enabled devices which send and act on data they acquire from their surrounding environments using sensors, processors and communication hardware.

These connected devices sometimes communicate with other devices in a process called machine-to-machine (M2M) communication and act on the information shared from one another. Humans can give these connected devices instructions or access the data, but the devices do most of the work without human intervention.

Connected devices generate loads of data that can be mined for various purposes. Privacy and security concerns rise with all this data.

This technology provides real-time information like monitoring our homes and families remotely. Businesses use IoT to improve their processes to increase productivity, reduce material waste and prepare themselves to unforeseeable circumstances. IoT devices used in city infrastructure can help monitor and reduce traffic. These Gadgets can also monitor changing environmental conditions and warn us of imminent disasters.

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A few Components of IoT architecture

The connected Devices are equipped with sensors and actuators to gather data and perform commands received from the cloud.

Cloud gateways

A cloud gateway ensures data transition between field gateways and central IoT servers.

Data processors

The Streaming data processors distribute the data coming from sensors among applicable IoT solution’s components.

Data lake

Data lake is used for storing all the data generated by all the connected devices in its natural format. The data is loaded into a big data warehouse whenever needed.

Big data warehouse

Only filtered and structured data is sent to a big data warehouse for further usage.

Security monitoring

Security is the main concern in the internet of things. Connected things produce huge volumes of data, which need to be securely transmitted and protected from cyber-criminals. Cyber-criminals can get access to the controls of the whole IoT system and misuse it. It is also possible to identify the patterns of suspicious behavior, store these samples and compare them with the logs generated by an IoT system to predict and prevent potential penetrations.