The Internet of Things (IoT) has changed the way we do daily tasks. The smart homing, for example, allows people to start their air conditioners remotely, with a few clicks on their smartphones. This shows how internet has improved our lives.
IoT is not only used to provide great solutions for homes, but also as a tool in business environments in many industries. Nonetheless, IoT generates so much big data, that it causes a lot of strain on the internet infrastructure. This scenario has made companies look for options to reduce this load.
Here is where cloud computing gets on the stage – it is an on-demand delivery of power, database, storage and other resources. It allows us to count on computer resource instead of having a computing infrastructure on premise.
It’s undeniable how cloud computing has become a mainstream on traditional IT and infrastructures. Just keep in mind how many big companies are using it for machine learning and for building solutions to be used worldwide.
This post is about the role of cloud computing in the Internet of Things and why they are inseparable.
How IoT and cloud complement each other
Both cloud computing and IoT work to increase the performance of everyday tasks and they have a similar relationship. While IoT generates lots of data, cloud computing paves the way for all the data to pass.
This makes possible, for example, for LetsCloud to offer a pay-as-you-grow model. That means you can use the great cloud resources we offer and pay only for what you need.
Not to mention the fact that cloud computing allows developers to work better with collaboration. That is very important, especially if we consider the importance of collaboration to IoT.
The cloud allows developers to store and access data remotely, implement projects better and without delays.
In order to better explain this to you, we made a comparative board:
Why is cloud computing essential to IoT?
To understand this relationship, think that cloud computing stands on the tenets of speed and scale, while IoT apps follow the principles of mobility and networking. That makes it important for both to work to get the most from this combination.
Below we list some other aspects to consider:
Remote processing power
Cloud gives power for IoT to work beyond regular objects such as fans, vacuum cleaners, air conditioners etc. This is possible because of the cloud storage.
As internet passes from 4G to higher speeds, the cloud allows developers to manage fast computing processes.
Security and Privacy
IoT plays a big role in gearing mobility. However, it would be incomplete with no security. That is where the cloud comes with its security solutions to make IoT safer. It gives, for example, authentication and encryption protocols, which are strong security measures for users.
Removes entry barrier for hosting providers
The cloud allows most hosting providers to offer ready-to-roll models without entry barriers. With that, hosting providers won’t depend on equipments or hardwares that do not support IoT devices.
This is important because many innovations aim at plug-and-play hosting services.
Challenges to IoT and Cloud together
Handling a huge amount of data
Dealing with much data is very hard especially when it involves numerous devices. The general performance of applications is the focus. For this reason, it could be beneficial to join the NoSQL movement, but we can’t assure this for a long run. This brings us to the challenge of managing big data with the cloud.
Networking and communication protocols
The relationship between cloud and IoT deals with communications machine-to-machine among different devices with numerous protocols. Managing such variation could be hard once many application areas do not include mobility. For now, WiFi and Bluetooth can play a good role in facilitating mobility.
Sensor networks
Sensor networks are responsible for lots of benefits of IoT. They allow users to measure, infer and understand indicators from the environment that otherwise would be hard to be dealt. But there is a big challenge in processing such amount of sensor data. Because of privacy and security issues it can be an opportunity to aggregate sensor data through the cloud.
Conclusion
If we observe the integration of cloud computing and IoT we can see a big step in the universe of internet. There is a lot of new applications from this junction that open new ways for businesses and also for research. We do hope that it brings lots of great services for users.
In this post we went over the relationship between cloud computing and the Internet of Things. If you have any question or observation about it, leave us a comment so we can discuss.
