Google unveils Cloud IoT Core service in beta to secure enterprise device management
Google has unveiled a new IoT management platform. Called Cloud IoT Core, it is a fully managed service that reportedly allows users “to easily and securely connect, manage, and ingest data from millions of globally dispersed devices”.
In combination with other services on Google Cloud IoT platform, says Jeremy Cowan, Cloud IoT Core aims to provide a complete solution for collecting, processing, analysing, and visualising IoT data in real time to support improved operational efficiency. (Also see: NXP and Google Cloud use new Cloud IoT Core to connect and manage devices at a global scale.)
Make informed decisions at global scale
Google says that Cloud IoT Core, using Cloud Pub/Sub underneath, can aggregate dispersed device data into a single global system that integrates seamlessly with Google Cloud data analytics services. You can use your IoT data stream for advanced analytics, visualisations, machine learning and more to help you improve operational efficiency, anticipate problems, and build rich models that better describe and optimise your business.
Securely connect your existing device network
If your goal is to securely connect a few or millions of your globally dispersed devices through protocol endpoints that use automatic load balancing and horizontal scaling to ensure smooth data ingestion under any condition then this will be worth investigating.
Cloud IoT Core supports the standard MQTT protocol, so you can use your existing devices with minimal firmware changes. Cloud IoT Core runs on Google’s serverless infrastructure, which scales automatically in response to real-time changes and adheres to stringent industry-standard security protocols that protect your business data.
Establish two-way communication with your devices
With the solution, Google reports that you can bring device data into your everyday business through a secure, intelligent, and responsive IoT data pipeline created by Google Cloud IoT Core. And you can rely on the intelligence of Android Things to push out automatic firmware updates, or easily push your own device updates with Cloud IoT Core.
Get straight to work
Centrally manage your entire IoT data network, “from a single pane of glass,” says Google. Cloud IoT Core reportedly works out of the box with millions of Android Things devices and other devices from leading hardware manufacturers. In this way, you can reduce capital expenditures on your IoT projects and maintenance costs with a pay-as-you-go service.
Cloud IoT partners
Google Cloud Platform partners have built hardware, software, and innovative solutions that connect the world of devices to Google Cloud Platform through the Cloud IoT Core service. The partners include Intel, Microchip, NXP and Sierra Wireless.
Device Manager
The solution is designed to allow individual devices to be configured and managed securely in a coarse-grained way; management can be done through a console or programmatically. The device manager establishes the identity of a device and provides the mechanism for authenticating a device when connecting. It also maintains a logical configuration of each device and can be used to remotely control the device from the cloud.
Protocol Bridge
The protocol bridge provides connection endpoints for protocols with automatic load balancing for all device connections. The protocol bridge has native support for secure connection over MQTT, an industry-standard IoT protocol. The protocol bridge also publishes all device telemetry to Cloud Pub/Sub, which can then be consumed by downstream analytic systems.
Among the key features of Cloud IoT Core are:
- End-to-end security
Enable end-to-end security using certificate-based authentication and TLS 1.2; devices running Android Things or supporting the Cloud IoT Core security requirements can deliver full-stack security. - Single global system
Connect all devices to Google Cloud over standard protocols, such as MQTT, through the protocol endpoints and manage all your devices as a single global system. The service uses Cloud Pub/Sub underneath, which retains data for 7 days. - Out-of-box data insights
Use downstream analytic systems by integrating with Google Big Data Analytics and ML services such as Dataflow, BigQuery, Bigtable, ML, Data Studio, or partner BI tools. - Fully managed and scalable
The service is serverless and doesn’t require any upfront software installation. It scales instantly without limits using horizontal scaling of Google Cloud Platform. - Role-level access control
Apply IAM roles to device registries to control user access to devices and data - Device deployment at scale
Use REST APIs to automatically manage the registration, deployment, and operation of devices at scale.Google Cloud IoT Core is launching in private beta and will be on general release later this year.
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