Solace and F5: Partnering for Better IoT

Frank Strobel

It wasn’t long ago that ubiquitous adoption of smartphones caused us to rethink our notions of scalability (according to comScore, 2015 was the year that mobile users outpaced desktop users). And now IoT is about to redefine scalability on a whole new scale: As of this year, there will be 3.5 IoT devices for every smartphone in use. (For those keeping track, that’s 2.3B smartphone users vs 8.4B connected “things.”)

As the saying goes, “Scalability isn’t the biggest challenge in IoT, but it’s growing.”

In addition to being equipped to handle huge numbers of devices and massive amounts of data traffic, IoT deployments have to be built for some unique ways of communicating. One common example is called “fan-out.” Under a typical fan-out scenario, a message is published once to a “message router” (hardware or virtual) that forwards it to all the clients that have expressed interest in receiving messages of that nature. (Picture the message “fanning out” from a single device to multiple devices.)

One of the leaders in creating state-of-the-art IoT messaging middleware technology (message routers) is the Solace Corp. Solace Open Data messaging technology routes event-driven information between applications, devices, and people across hybrid cloud environments. Their application/device nervous system helps companies modernize legacy applications, migrate to the cloud, and operate successful IoT deployments.

And just as F5 “makes applications go” for enterprise users, so too can we enhance the reliability, robustness, scalability, and security of a real-time, distributed IoT messaging platform like Solace’s. In fact, we work together to deliver three big benefits to our customers:

1. Critical IoT systems (connected cars, hospitals, airports, factories) are highly susceptible to delays in reconnecting after a failure. They must also be ready to absorb massive, time-sensitive bursts whenever multiple high-priority messages must be instantly dispersed. Together, Solace and F5 meet these challenges with a solution that scales into the tens of millions of IoT devices, delivers super-fast reconnect times, and acts as a shock absorber to shield the backend from fluctuations in data volumes.
   
2. When it comes to IoT, devices must be connected with bulletproof security at all levels (the network, data, and middleware layers). Solace and F5 provide a full suite of security functions, including device-specific Access Control lists, session TLS, and full data control.
   
3. Solace and F5 deliver 99.999% reliability and robustness. Our enterprise-grade solutions solve our customers’ most mission-critical IoT use cases. IoT devices can connect to any data center—cloud and/or on premises—and the proper events will be routed to the appropriate systems in real-time. Every time.

While customers are embracing public cloud at a fast rate, it is also clear that legacy deployments will be around for a long while to come. Fortunately, Solace and F5 provide a nervous system that interconnects all deployment scenarios, from cloud-native, to on-premises, to hybrids and multi-cloud deployments.

When our customers need a reliable, real-time flow of data between connected devices, gateways, and applications running in all clouds and datacenters, F5 and Solace together do it better than anyone.

To learn more about how Solace and F5 can help your customers, check out the resources below or feel free to drop me a line: F.Strobel@F5.com

Additional Resources

• Using F5 BIG-IP and Solace Open Data Movement technology for MQTT message routing and delivery – F5 DevCentral article
  
• How BIG-IP and Solace work together in an MQTT connected car infrastructure – F5 Lightboard Lessons video

About the Author

Frank Strobel

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