What is an IoT?
What Is the Internet of Things?
The Internet of Things (IoT) is used to describe a network infrastructure where physical devices are embedded with electronic capabilities and sensors that can connect to each other via wireless or wired networks. These devices collect and exchange data from remote locations and often use cloud-based big data analytics to help companies make better decisions about various aspects of their businesses.
The IoT is also known as Industrial IoT (IIoT) because it’s primarily focused on industrial processes. The IoT relies on four main types of technologies:
- * Sensors
- * Networks
- * Compute capabilities
- * Data analytics.
Collectively these allow devices to communicate with one another via low-power wireless protocols like Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. Thanks to Moore’s Law (the observation that computing power doubles roughly every two years), all four areas are rapidly evolving and converging together to create a new wave of tech innovation. While these technologies have been around for decades, they’re becoming more prevalent in our daily lives thanks to new advancements in hardware and software technology.
How Does the Internet of Things Work?
The IoT works through connectivity between a wide range of devices that are embedded with technology to exchange data and information. Because these smart devices can talk to each other, they allow for added convenience—for example, your car can tell you when it’s low on oil, or when there’s a traffic jam ahead so you need to leave early for work. On top of that, smart devices also offer security benefits. For instance, if your home is equipped with an alarm system that connects to an app on your phone, you can get alerts if someone tries to break in while you’re away from home. And if a fire starts in your kitchen while you’re out at dinner, sensors will detect it and automatically notify firefighters. All told, billions of people use smart devices every day to stay connected and make their lives easier.
What Is an IoT Device?
An IoT device is any object you can interact with in your daily life that has been fitted with a chip, sensor, or other pieces of technology that allows it to connect to the internet. For example, smart TVs have chips inside them so they can connect directly to Netflix without needing an external set-top box; smart fridges use sensors to track how much food is left inside them; smart cars use GPS and cameras for navigation assistance; etc.
How Does It Work?
Many devices that make up the internet of things (IoT) connect via WiFi, Bluetooth, cellular networks, or other wireless technologies. When one device sends data to another device (like your smartphone telling your thermostat to turn down), those bits of information are sent as radio waves over frequencies managed by specific companies. These companies have different ways of managing these frequencies; some might let anyone use them freely, while others only lease access to businesses they’ve approved.
In either case, though, all of these communications must be encrypted in order to keep personal data safe. Encryption scrambles messages into code that authorized parties can only read—it ensures that no hackers can intercept messages intended for your thermostat and send fake commands to heat up your house while you’re gone.
Experts recommend using virtual private networks (VPNs) alongside encryption tools. VPNs encrypt everything coming into and going out of your computer or mobile device—so even if a hacker does manage to infiltrate your network, he won’t be able to see what sites you visit online or what information you enter.
How Does IoT Data Get Analyzed?
There are many ways to collect data from connected devices—but once you’ve got it, what do you do with it?
One option is to store it in a central database for later analysis. This approach works well if you don’t expect your dataset to grow too large—but as soon as it does, managing and analyzing those large datasets will become unmanageable. A better alternative is to process raw data in real-time using cloud computing.
Cloud computing refers to using remote servers hosted by third parties instead of local servers installed at your company’s headquarters. It offers several advantages over traditional IT systems: lower upfront costs, higher scalability, greater flexibility, and more advanced security features.
Once you upload raw IoT data into a cloud server, it can be analyzed immediately using complex algorithms and machine learning techniques. You get near-instant results, and there’s no need to manage or maintain expensive hardware.
Final Thoughts
The Internet of Things (IoT) is a vast and complicated concept that will continue to impact our lives in a dramatic way. But now that you know more about it, we hope you’re intrigued by what IoT can do for your business and how you can use it to improve your customers’ experiences. If you want IoT products for your business, then get them from freeeway.com.
