Enhancing IoT network scalability with infrastructure-as-code Internet of Things News %

As the interconnectedness of our world grows by the day, IoT networks have become more complex. One challenge that this added complexity brings is the issue of scalability – ensuring that an IoT network can grow to handle more connected devices without slowing down, compromising security or impacting the user experience.

As of 2024, there are over 17 billion IoT devices, a figure that’s expected to reach 30 billion by 2030. Managing this workload and ensuring it runs smoothly for everyone is not easy. Luckily, several emerging technologies can help streamline operations, improve efficiency, and enhance IoT network scalability.

Perhaps the most promising of these technologies is infrastructure-as-code (IaC), a powerful approach to managing cloud infrastructure through machine-readable configuration files, rather than deploying physical hardware or stepping through interactive configuration tools.

Let’s explore in more detail the issue of IoT scalability, and why IaC may be the solution for ensuring seamless integration of IoT devices and the expansion of IoT networks.

How do IoT networks scale?

An IoT network is a collection of interconnected devices that work together to share data, facilitate communication, and automate processes. These networks exist all around us, from our homes to use in large and essential industries like healthcare, manufacturing, agriculture, etc.

Scaling an IoT network involves expanding its capability to handle the extra load, data processing, and computational demands of an increasing number of smart devices.

Ensuring scalability is essential, because so many of our critical services like hospital devices, industrial systems, and smart city elements depend on the seamless functioning of IoT networks. Companies need reliable and scalable IoT networks to handle fluctuating data volumes from their devices.

Scaling an IoT network can present several operational and technical challenges. Here are some of the main ones.

Network limitations. Not only does the network need to support a large number of devices, but the increasing amount of machine-generated data devices produce. Without large-scale edge network implementations, an IoT network may experience increased latency issues, causing large-scale performance problems.

Security risks. Scaling IoT networks often comes at the expense of security, as the attack surface expands when increasing the number of connected devices. Devices from differen manufacturers make it more difficult to implement standardised security protocols across the entire infrastructure.

Lifecycle management. Traditionally, once an IoT solution is established, its scalability tends to be predefined, presenting the solution’s inherent limitations in infrastructure expansion. Scaling-up typically necessitates manual intervention in infrastructure orchestration, which can be resource-intensive and prone to errors.

Scaling IoT networks with infrastructure as code

Infrastructure-as-code is a transformative approach to cloud-based IT infrastructure management, providing automated provisioning of technology resources through code, rather than manual processes.

IaC is deployed using tools like Terraform, Ansible, and AWS CloudFormation, where users can run automated scripts with configurations that define the desired state of infrastructure resources, including servers, networks, storage, and applications.

Infrastructure-as-code addresses the challenges of scaling IoT networks by minimising the necessity of manual processes and enabling the efficient management of complex infrastructure.

Automated deployment processes. By using scripts, IaC can define the desired state of the infrastructure quickly, and deploy it across multiple environments.

This level of automation allows the IoT network to scale efficiently as more devices are added and data volumes increase.

Dynamic provisioning and deprovisioning. IaC scripts can adjust infrastructure algorithmically based on predefined metrics and triggers like CPU usage, memory consumption, or network traffic. The capability is crucial for IoT networks which often experience fluctuating demand. With IaC, resources can be scaled up or down automatically to meet current needs, optimising for both performance and cost-efficiency.

For example, if an IoT network detects increased traffic, IaC scripts can automatically provision additional servers to ensure uninterrupted service. Conversely, during periods of low demand, resources can be deprovisioned to save costs.

Declarative approach. IaC uses declarative code, where the desired state of the infrastructure is specified in configuration files. This method contrasts with the imperative approach, which involves specifying the exact steps to achieve a desired state. The declarative nature of IaC ensures that applying the configuration multiple times results in the same state, essential for scaling an IoT network.

With IaC tools like Terraform, the desired state of the infrastructure is defined in configuration files in formats that may include YAML or JSON. The IaC tool reads the files and makes the necessary adjustments to align the current state with the desired state.

Another great benefit of automating the scaling process of IoT networks is enhanced security. Manually configuring firewall rules or access controls can lead to inconsistencies and human error. By automating these configurations using scripts, IaC ensures that security measures are quickly added across all devices and supporting systems as the network scales.

Conclusion

As IoT networks grow in complexity, we need a reliable solution which ensures the networks our world relies on scale efficiently and securely. Thanks to its automation and standardisation capabilities, infrastructure-as-code emerges as a technology that can enable efficient scalability and management of our IoT infrastructure.

IaC minimises the risk of human error and misconfiguration, which can be costly risks when essential services rely on consistent and secure infrastructure.