Scalable Architecture for the Internet of Things

Chapter 5. EdgeX Foundry

This chapter focuses on the EdgeX Foundry IoT platform. We will provide an overview of the architecture and discuss steps for setting up the ecosystem, event management and system dashboards, the application integration layer, and security. We will also build an end-to-end example.

Introduction to EdgeX Foundry

In contrast to the cloud IoT platforms presented in previous chapters, in this chapter we will explore an IoT platform that targets the network edge.

Note

“The edge of the IoT is where the action is. It includes a wide array of sensors, actuators, and devices—those system end-points that interact with and communicate real-time data from smart products and services.”—stated in Foundational Elements of an IoT Solution by Joe Biron and Jonathan Follett (O’Reilly).

We hear more and more lately how edge or fog computing will be one of the biggest technology trends in the near future. In one of his famous talks, “The End of Cloud Computing”, Peter Levine (general partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz) describes a paradigm shift and the potential of edge computing—he believes the center of computing will move from the cloud to the edge. While cloud IoT platforms have requirements for simultaneous connectivity of a huge number of devices and high scalability, edge IoT platforms introduce new requirements—low latency, low memory footprint (usually), and high performance (in order to provide fast responses).

Bearing all this in mind, we ...