What is the Internet of Things?
The Internet of Things (IoT for short) refers to the real-time collection of any information that needs to be monitored, connected, and interacted through various information sensors, radio frequency identification technology, global positioning systems, infrared sensors, laser scanners and other devices and technologies. Objects or processes collect various required information such as sound, light, heat, electricity, mechanics, chemistry, biology, and location, and realize ubiquitous connections between things and things and things and people through various possible network accesses. Realize intelligent perception, identification and management of items and processes.
With the maturity of various Internet of Things technologies, the improvement of 5G communication infrastructure, and the lower prices of computing resources, edge computing has moved from theory to practice. The so-called edge computing means running applications on the edge to monitor, analyze, and control various terminal devices in real time.
What is cloud native architecture?
Cloud-native architecture is an approach that leverages modern cloud infrastructure to optimize software delivery. Its main features are microservices, containerization, automation and observability. It realizes the rapid development, construction and delivery of microservice architecture by applying containerization and container orchestration technologies, making the software more scalable, highly available and maintainable.
Cloud native architecture mainly includes the following aspects:
- Microservice architecture: Split the application into small, independent service units. Each service unit only focuses on solving certain business problems.
- Containerization: Package applications and their dependencies into a standard container format to enable cross-machine and cross-platform deployment of applications.
- Container orchestration: Manage and coordinate application deployment, expansion, shrinkage and other operations through the container orchestration platform.
- Automated operation and maintenance: Automate operation and maintenance operations such as development, deployment, monitoring, expansion, and update of cloud native applications.
- Observability: Real-time observability of cloud native applications is achieved through logs, monitoring, alarms and other means.
Why implement cloud native?
Cloud native architecture has been widely used due to its unique thread isolation, resource allocation and other characteristics, and has the following advantages:
- Respond to business changes: Based on cloud native architecture, rapid business changes are realized, allowing enterprises to respond to market demands more quickly.
- Increase system reliability: The use of containerization makes application deployment more standardized, reducing the complexity of application deployment and operation and maintenance, thereby improving system reliability.
- Increase system scalability: Based on containerization, cloud-native applications can more conveniently scale applications horizontally, improving system scalability.
- Improve system security: In order to protect system security, the cloud native architecture adopts multiple container isolation methods, thereby improving system security performance.
Why implement cloud native in the Internet of Things?
The Internet of Things connects various devices, people, systems, etc. to the Internet. After connecting, why does it need to be cloud native? The value of cloud native to cloud applications is clear, so why should we emphasize cloud native in the Internet of Things?
In fact, the core of the Internet of Things is edge computing. With the improvement of hardware technology and the reduction of costs, many edge devices and even terminal devices have good computing power, instead of the original simple logic control. This also allows cloud applications to be distributed to the edge for running. Since applications can run on the edge, why can't they be run in the same way as the cloud? The answer is of course yes! The use of microservice architecture and container technology on the edge also brings agility, reliability, and scalability to edge applications.
How to combine CloudOS with the Internet of Things?
As an enterprise-level one-stop cloud native application development and operation platform, how does CloudOS combine with the edge computing of the Internet of Things? (Those who don’t know about our CloudOS can click below to experience it immediately)
Cloud 1.0 version supports one-stop design, development, testing, delivery and operation and maintenance of cloud applications, such as CRM systems, e-commerce systems, procurement management systems, ERP, financial systems, etc.
This year, we cooperated with a domestic first-tier new energy company to jointly build an IoT platform. In this IoT platform project, we expanded the capabilities of CloudOS and expanded the concept of "application" from cloud applications to edge applications. end application.
In CloudOS, the design state of an application is an architecture diagram, which is instantiated into specific applications by delivering this architecture diagram to different computing resources. Truly develop once and deliver everywhere.
In our CloudOS 2.0, the design state of an application may include multiple components, some components need to run in the cloud, and some components need to run on the edge. We just need to visually deliver different components to different resource pools in CloudOS.
The figure below is an example. The application contains 3 components, 2 of which run in the cloud and one runs on the edge. The component running on the edge obtains the camera data and transmits it to the cloud for identification.
Through our CloudOS capabilities, we can very conveniently deliver services to the edge, while shielding developers from the complexity of container technology.
CloudOS 1.0 – Develop in one place, deliver to multiple clouds.
CloudOS 2.0 - cloud development, edge delivery.