Azure IoT Edge Documentation
Introduction to Azure IoT Edge
Azure IoT Edge is a managed cloud service that enables you to move cloud analytics and custom business logic from the cloud closer to your IoT devices. This hybrid cloud and edge pattern allows for rapid response, efficient operation, and reduced bandwidth costs.
IoT Edge enables you to deploy and manage intelligent edge solutions. It consists of three main components:
- Azure IoT Edge devices: These are IoT devices (like sensors, gateways, or servers) that run IoT Edge.
- Azure IoT Edge agent: This is a containerized agent that runs on each edge device. It manages and orchestrates device workloads.
- Cloud workload repository: This is where you define your IoT Edge workloads, typically managed through Azure IoT Hub.
Key Capabilities
- Run Azure services on the edge: Deploy services like Azure Machine Learning, Azure Stream Analytics, and Azure Functions directly onto your edge devices.
- Deploy custom code: Package your own application code as modules and deploy them to your edge devices.
- Manage devices remotely: Use IoT Hub to provision, monitor, and manage your IoT Edge devices and their deployed workloads from the cloud.
- Offline operation: Design solutions that can operate autonomously when network connectivity is intermittent or unavailable.
Important Note
IoT Edge is crucial for scenarios where processing data locally is beneficial due to latency, bandwidth, or privacy concerns. It bridges the gap between edge devices and powerful cloud services.
Getting Started with IoT Edge
To begin using Azure IoT Edge, you'll typically follow these steps:
- Provision an IoT Hub: Create an Azure IoT Hub instance to manage your devices and deploy workloads.
- Prepare your edge device: Install the IoT Edge runtime on your chosen device (Windows, Linux, or even virtual machines).
- Create and deploy modules: Develop or select pre-built modules (e.g., a data collector, a processing module) and define your deployment manifest.
- Deploy to device: Use IoT Hub to send the deployment manifest to your edge device, instructing it to download and run the specified modules.
For detailed instructions, refer to the Deployment guide.
Example Scenario: Local Data Processing
Consider a manufacturing plant where sensors generate a high volume of data. Instead of sending all raw data to the cloud, an IoT Edge device can run an Azure Stream Analytics module locally to filter, aggregate, and analyze the data in real-time. Only relevant insights or alerts are then sent to the cloud for further storage or analysis.
# Example: Deploying a simple "hello world" module
az iot edge set-modules --device-id myEdgeDevice --hub-name myIoTHub --content deployment.json
Tip
Explore the Azure IoT Edge Samples repository on GitHub for practical examples and ready-to-use code.
Key Concepts
- Edge Modules: These are the basic building blocks of your IoT Edge solution. They are containerized processes that can perform tasks like device management, data processing, or communication.
- Runtime: The IoT Edge runtime is installed on edge devices and manages the lifecycle of modules. It includes the IoT Edge agent and the IoT Edge security daemon.
- Deployment Manifest: A JSON file that describes the modules to be deployed on an IoT Edge device and their desired properties.
For a deeper understanding of the underlying architecture, please visit the Architecture section.