Internet Of Things ‘IOT’
Introduction
Today, businesses are motivated by IoT concept and the prospects of increasing revenue, reducing operating costs, and improving efficiencies. Businesses also are driven by a need for regulatory compliance. Regardless of the reasons, IoT device deployments automate processes, provide the data: “ in fact Priceonomics breaks it down: There are more than 50 billion IoT devices as of 2020, and those devices will generate 4.4 zettabytes of data this year (A zettabyte is a trillion gigabytes)”, and compete more effectively in a changing business environment. so what is internet of things (IoT)? How it works ?
what exactly is the Internet of things!
Technical definition: The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to a system of interrelated, internet-connected objects that are able to collect and transfer data over a wireless network without human intervention.
To put it in simple words, internet of things means taking all the physical things in the world and connecting them to the internet. The goal of IoT is to extend to internet connectivity from standard devices like computer, mobile, tablet to relatively dumb devices like a toaster.
2. How IoT works ? main concepts:
- Hardware : From the engineering perspective, the Internet of Things is an embedded microprocessor controlled system connected directly or indirectly to the web. The smart devices use embedded systems to collect, send data to the cloud using a wifi module that they acquire from their environments. Basically, it means that you can turn your embedded device into an IoT device by simply giving it Internet access. in the Iot , everything that is being connected can be put into three categories:
- Things that collect information and then send it.
- Things that receive information and then act on it.
- Things that do both
Collecting, Sending and Recieving Information : Sensors are the hardware that is doing the critical work of collecting and measuring data. it may detect air quality, temperature, pressure, motion, sound, light… These sensors, along with a connection, allow us to automatically collect information from the environment which, in turn, allows us to make more intelligent decisions.
- Data analytics : Devices and objects with built in sensors are connected to an Internet of Things platform, which integrates data from the different devices and applies analytics to share the most valuable information and what can safely be ignored. This information can be used to detect patterns, make recommendations, and detect possible problems before they occur.
- Securing the Internet of Things : Unfortunately, as the number of connected devices increases and more information is shared between devices, the potential that a hacker could steal confidential information also increases. Hackers aren’t the only threat to the internet of things; privacy is also center of interest for IoT users. For that reason security, data protection, and privacy have become the top concern amongst businesses and consumers. Several tech companies are focused on cyber security to ensure the privacy and safety of all it’s data. Salesforce has proven to be ready with flexible APIs that are enabled to receive information from whatever wherever, while providing security.
- Some disadvantages of IoT :
- Enterprises may eventually have to deal with massive numbers of IoT devices, and collecting and managing the data from all those devices will be challenging.
- If there’s a bug in the system, it’s likely that every connected device will become corrupted.
- Since there’s no international standard of compatibility for IoT, it’s difficult for devices from different manufacturers to communicate with each other.