What is an IoT Gateway?

What is an IoT Gateway?

An Internet of Things (IoT) Gateway serves as the connection point between the cloud and controllers, sensors and intelligent devices. As some sensors generate tens of thousands of data points per second, all data that moves through the cloud has to go through the gateway beforehand which allows it to pre-process the data. The benefit of this is data is summarised and tactically analysed which minimises the volume of information that has to be forwarded to the cloud, ultimately reducing response times and transmission costs. It also enables users to securely share and filter data for analysis.

Another feature of an IoT Gateway is to pass translated data between different networking technologies and protocols. For example, most sensors and IoT devices do not utilise traditional wireless networking technology, they use a different, low powered wireless technology and one of the functions of an IoT gateway can be to translate information between the two. In addition to bringing the IoT network to life, the gateway also performs device authentication for secure network access and manages device configuration.

Benefits of using the cloud for IoT applications:

• Pay-as-needed for storage/computing
• Ability to handle large amounts of data
• Decreased costs, both upfront and infrastructure
• High system scalability and availability
   

Supermicro IoT Gateways are compact, smart and secure products that connect sensors and devices to the cloud through wireless or local networks. They are built to ensure ease of service deployment and enable a broad ecosystem of solution providers. Supermicro IoT servers are ideal for Cloud Storage, Digital Signage, Medical Imaging, Digital Surveillance and a variety of other applications.

IoT Gateways also help to bridge the gap between Operational Technology (OT) and Information Technology (IT) by processing the operational data it gathers in real-time and optimising system performance through this. It can lower costs as end-point devices don't need high processing power, storage or memory as the cloud does it for them, enable faster production, and mitigate risks as the gateway can alienate devices that aren't performing before they become a bigger issue down the production line. As the gateway manages information moving both in and out, it is able to protect data from leaking and IoT devices from malicious outside attacks.

Tags: IoT, gateway, Supermicro