| copyright | lastupdated | ||
|---|---|---|---|
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2017-01-12 |
{:new_window: target="_blank"} {:shortdesc: .shortdesc} {:screen: .screen} {:codeblock: .codeblock} {:pre: .pre}
{: #feature_overview}
The {{site.data.keyword.iot_full}} is built on the following key areas:
- Connect - Connect devices and develop applications.
- Information Management - Store and review device data and integrate your {{site.data.keyword.iot_short_notm}} with other services.
- Analytics - Visualize real-time device data by using the {{site.data.keyword.iot_short_notm}} dashboard.
- Risk Management - Configure secure connectivity and architecture with access control for users and applications.
{: #connect}
{{site.data.keyword.iot_short_notm}} Connect is the starting point for any {{site.data.keyword.iot_short_notm}} service. Connecting devices, creating applications, controlling your devices, and interacting with third-party services are all available under {{site.data.keyword.iot_short_notm}} Connect.
By using a gateway, you can connect devices to the {{site.data.keyword.iot_short_notm}} that otherwise cannot connect to the Internet. Gateways have all the functions of a device, but can also publish and subscribe on behalf of the devices connected to them. Gateway devices allow groups of sensors which cannot connect to the Internet to connect to your {{site.data.keyword.iot_short_notm}} by sending their data to a gateway. For more information, see developing for gateways.
Device management capabilities are provided through a device management API and a device management agent that is installed on devices. Devices with a device management agent can perform device management actions, which can be triggered through the main {{site.data.keyword.iot_short_notm}} dashboard or the device management API. Device management actions include reboot, download and install firmware updates, and reset devices to factory settings. Device management can also be extended to include custom device management actions. For more information, see the device management documentation.
Extensions and service integration enable both external services and user-defined extensions of core services to be added to an instance of {{site.data.keyword.iot_short_notm}}. External services which can be integrated with the {{site.data.keyword.iot_short_notm}} include The Weather Company weather location services, allowing you to find the current weather at a device location, Jasper SIM data, and {{site.data.keyword.Bluemix_notm}} {{site.data.keyword.ssoshort}}. For more information on third-party service integrations and extensions, see integrating external services.
{: #information_management}
{{site.data.keyword.iot_short_notm}} Information Management controls the data that is sent by devices after it reaches your {{site.data.keyword.iot_short_notm}} service. Information management includes data storage and transformation.
By using the {{site.data.keyword.iot_short_notm}} Last Event Cache API, you can retrieve the last event that was sent by a device. This works whether the device is online or offline, which allows you to retrieve device status regardless of the device's physical location or use status. Last event data of a device can be retrieved for any specific event that occurred up to 365 days ago.
Device event data from your {{site.data.keyword.iot_short_notm}} service can be stored for later use. Data storage is an essential first step towards performing insightful analytics to gain insights from that data. For example, you can track changes over longer periods of time and store sets of data for use with powerful analytics tools, including use with Watson APIs and cognitive computing. For more information, see connecting a {{site.data.keyword.cloudant_short_notm}} historian service, or connecting a {{site.data.keyword.messagehub}} historian service.
{: #analytics}
You can visualize and display real-time device data by using dashboard cards. Dashboard cards monitor and display device data in real-time, which allows you to keep track of key devices or device data. These visualizations are displayed on the main {{site.data.keyword.iot_short_notm}} dashboard to give you rapid access to the context and status of real-time device data. For more information, see visualizing real-time data.
By using {{site.data.keyword.iot_short_notm}} cloud analytics, you specify rule conditions that are based on real-time device data and that trigger alerts and optional actions when met. For example, you might create a rule to ensure that when the device is dropped or when the temperature of the device spikes, an alert is sent to the dashboard on a user's device, and an email is sent to the administrator. For more information, see the cloud analytics documentation.
With edge analytics, you move the analytics rule-triggering process from the cloud to an edge analytics enabled gateway that might dramatically reduce the amount of device data traffic to the cloud by doing the analytics processing close to the device. For more information, see the edge analytics documentation.
{: #risk_management}
The architecture of the {{site.data.keyword.iot_short_notm}} is designed to prevent devices from impersonating other devices, which maintains the integrity of your device data. Devices connect to the {{site.data.keyword.iot_short_notm}} by using a combination of a client ID and authentication token, which only you know. After the devices are registered or the API keys are generated, the authentication token is salted and hashed to maintain the security of your credentials.
The Risk and Security Management add-on enables you to enhance {{site.data.keyword.iot_short_notm}} security to ensure that all points of connection between the server and devices are authenticated with proven credentials. With this add-on, certificates and transport layer security (TLS) authentication are used, on top of the {{site.data.keyword.iot_short_notm}} use of user IDs and tokens. During communication between devices and the server, any devices that do not have valid certificates with server access, as configured in the Risk and Security Management add-on, are denied access, even if they use valid user IDs and passwords.