IoT provides businesses with greater visibility, automation, and operational efficiency.  Organizations that have begun to investigate the potential of deploying IoT must examine various IoT sensors and how these devices connect to and communicate with IoT server applications.

Most people think of IoT networks as simply connecting to a traditional corporate LAN.  While this is true in some cases, IoT networking takes a broader approach to networking and expands connectivity options.

What is a traditional network?

A traditional enterprise network typically consists of the following components:

• Enterprise LAN.
• Wireless local area network (WLAN).
• Wan.
• Internet edge.

LANs and WLANs are dedicated wired and Wi-Fi networks commonly deployed within corporate offices and branch offices. The WAN is responsible for the secure connection between the LAN and branch offices. Finally, the internet edge is the point or points where ingress and egress traffic can reach the internet.

What is the Internet of Things?

The Internet of Things is a collection of autonomous devices connected to the Internet that businesses can deploy to automate many business-related tasks. IoT devices use a variety of sensors, monitors, and other technologies to collect data. The data is then transmitted over the internet to a central repository management application for analysis. Depending on the role of the IoT system, it can use the analyzed data to initiate automated responses or make various business-related decisions.

IoT devices can use standard Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or many other wired or wireless connections and standards-based or proprietary networking protocols. This variety enables greater deployment flexibility, as IoT devices can often operate on low-bandwidth links.

Traditional Networking vs. IoT: How Do They Compare?

IoT systems are not like traditional networks, but they use network connections to function. Devices in IoT systems rely on network connectivity to capture data that is transmitted to centralized servers for analysis.

IoT devices can also react to various feedbacks based on processes driven by a centralized IoT management system. However, unlike traditional enterprise components, IoT architectures and devices can be distributed over a wide geographic range.

Enterprises typically implement IoT sensors on traditional enterprise wired and Wi-Fi networks for communication access. However, organizations can also place IoT sensors on non-traditional networks, including public and private cellular, Bluetooth, Zigbee, and long-range WANs.

Users can also place IoT devices in a home network as long as they can access IoT management services over the internet. Because of this, IoT can go far beyond the reach of traditional networks, making it a flexible option for network deployment.