IoT 3 mins read

From the cloud to thin edge: Why an open approach helps

To prevent IoT projects from getting lost in a labyrinth of programming languages there is thin-edge.io.

Dr. Juergen Kraemer Dr. Juergen Kraemer

As the industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) grows, the rising number of connected devices and equipment generate an ever-accelerating amount of data – challenging centralized cloud computing strategies.

The IIoT is a tremendous success story: Over half of all companies have already implemented or are in the process of realizing at least one IoT project. Most of them started with a centralized cloud computing strategy, in which all the data collected from connected devices flows into the cloud where it is analyzed, processed, and stored.

Because of the IoT’s growing success, more and more connected devices and equipment are generating an increasing amount of data at ever-accelerating speeds. This can cause a centralized structure to its limits—especially with regards to the bandwidth required to transmit the data.

So, what to do? The logical conclusion is to no longer send all the data to a central cloud platform for processing. Often it makes sense to process the data on the spot. Consequently, there is rapidly rising demand for edge computing. Market researchers predict an annual growth rate of 40% for the coming years.

IIoT on the edge

Shifting the IIoT to the edge comes with new challenges—and not just because the computing power available there is lower than in the cloud. If you connect sensors, actuators or even microcontrollers, you’re confronted with a whole slew of programming languages and protocols. Anyone who doesn’t want to be locked in to one supplier cannot avoid dealing with different systems, architectures, and programming environments, whether they like it or not.

Conversely, providers are confronted with a wide range of platforms and cloud solutions from their zillions of customers, which their sensors and actuators must connect with. As hardware producers, they are often not well-poised to handle such a programming and integration challenge—and they also want to avoid vendor lock-in if possible.

thin-edge.io

To prevent IoT projects from getting lost in the labyrinth of protocol and programming languages, there is thin-edge.io: An IoT framework that was developed specifically for connecting simple edge devices with limited computing and storage capacity to the IoT.

Supports many different programming languages and messaging protocols for communication across processes

Offers out-of-the-box connectivity to many IoT platforms including Azure IoT, Cumulocity IoT, and others

Can be deployed on most hardware platforms, embedded Linux-based operating systems, and software containers.

In addition to this versatility, thin-edge.io’s open approach is key: Since thin-edge.io is open source, it can be used for free and without a license fee. Thus, the thin-edge.io initiative supports the creation of an ecosystem with many different partners including software firms, hardware producers, platform providers and developers.

This enables additional modules or plug-ins based on the open-source approach to be offered; these supplement the functionality of thin-edge.io on the one hand, while providing the opportunity to develop and sell complementary commercial offerings on the other.

I’m certain that thin-edge.io will become a key driver in the Industrial Internet of Things. Taking an in-depth look at the concept is worth it in any case.

Check out thin-edge.io’s YouTube channel here, and the Community Page here.

Click below to try it for free.