In a nutshell let us understand what IoT is: People often get confused between the IoT and the Internet, to clear that confusion “Internet is a network of Networks that connects the Computer systems around the world” and “Internet Of Things means connecting any device to the Internet (as long as it is On) and to the other devices. So it is a giant network that connects people and things all of which that collect and share information the way they are used and about the environment around them.”
Always remember that the machines which are connected to the IoT are not only digital but also mechanical, objects and animals which are provided with unique identifiers and ability to transfer data over a network without requiring a human-to-human or computer-to-human interaction. Some people cannot understand what actually IoT is just by reading the content which is written above because this is a topic which requires the explanation of the complete functionality and the main Components which make up the IoT.
Sensors are those which collect the information from their respective environment, for example a Temperature recording Thermometer or Simply a Smart Phone because a mobile phone contains multiple sensors which are Temperature Recorder, GPS, Camera, Accelometer(an electromechanical device used to measure acceleration forces).
The data which the Sensors have collected has to be sent to a particular receiver also. The receiver can be Cloud (which is a Dedicated Network Attached Storage) but there should be a method by which they are able to do it. This can be made possible by the use of Connecting Devices like Satellite, WiFi, Low Power Wide Area Network or connecting directly to the Internet via Ethernet. Each application that is sent takes a Specific Bandwidth.
Now the data has reached the Cloud or to his specific receiver then a particular processing will be done by a particular software. This processing can be either reading the temperature, pressure or the location. If the temperature is high i.e Not within the normal limits then a different action will be taken.
The Data Processing which has been performed has to be notified to the End User as well. The end user would be alerted by a Text, Email, Notification. Also the User must also be having an Application installed in his phone or he can check it through the Browser. It depends on the IoT that the User can not only see what is being sent but also change it with respect to his needs. There may be an automated process for doing it or he has to do it manually.
All the four components described above are integrated to make the IoT functional. The Sensors collect the Information, Data and send it to the Cloud where a software performs a particular processing and notifies the User either through an Email or text notification. The User after getting the alert takes an appropriate action according to his needs.
