Creating a Practical IoT Solution Using Azure IoT Hub.

What is Azure IoT?

Azure IoT (Internet of Things) is a comprehensive suite of services provided by Microsoft Azure designed to facilitate the development, deployment, and management of IoT solutions. It allows businesses to connect, monitor, and control billions of IoT assets.

The Internet of Things (IoT) has revolutionized how we interact with devices and data. Azure IoT Hub is a managed service that enables reliable and secure bi-directional communications between millions of IoT devices and a cloud solution. In this blog, we will walk you through setting up an IoT Hub, registering a device, and simulating the device to send telemetry data to Azure Blob Storage.

Step-by-Step Guide to Creating an Azure IoT Hub.

Step 1. Creating an IoT Hub:

1. Sign in to the Azure Portal: Go to Azure Portal and log in with your Azure account credentials.

2. Create a New IoT Hub:In the left-hand menu, click on "Create a resource".

   • In the search box, type "IoT Hub" and select it from the drop-down list.

• Click on the "Create" button to start creating your new IoT Hub.

1. Configure the Basics:
   • Subscription: Select the Azure subscription you want to use.
   • Resource Group: Choose an existing resource group or create a new one. Resource groups help organize related resources.
   • Region: Select a region that is closest to your users or devices to minimize latency.
   • IoT Hub Name: Provide a unique name for your IoT Hub. The name must be globally unique and can only contain lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens.
   • Tier Selection: Choose a pricing and scale tier that suits your needs.

4.Review and Create:

• Review Configuration: Check all the settings you have configured. Make sure everything is correct before proceeding.

• Create the IoT Hub: Click on the "Create" button to create your IoT Hub. It may take a few minutes for the deployment to complete.
  

• Access Your IoT Hub: Once the deployment is complete, you can access your IoT Hub by navigating to "All resources" in the left-hand menu and selecting your IoT Hub from the list.

• Overview Page: On the overview page, you will find essential information about your IoT Hub, including the hostname, shared access policies, and more.
  

Step 2: Add a New Device:

1. Go to IoT Devices:

   • In your IoT Hub pane, under "Explorers", click on "IoT devices".
   • Click on the "+ New" button to add a new device.

2. Configure Device:

   • Device ID: Enter a unique ID for your device (e.g., myFirstDevice).
   • Authentication Type: Choose the authentication type (Symmetric key, X.509 Self-Signed, or X.509 CA Signed). For simplicity, we’ll use Symmetric key.
   • Auto-generate Keys: Ensure that the "Auto-generate keys" option is selected to generate the primary and secondary keys automatically.
   • Save: Click "Save" to create the device.

3. Retrieve the Device Connection String:

   • After saving the device, click on its name to open the device details.
   • In the device details pane, copy the "Primary Connection String." This string is needed for the device to connect to the IoT Hub.

4. Simulate the Device:Once you have registered the device and retrieved the connection string, you can simulate the device sending telemetry data to the IoT Hub.

   • Using a Raspberry Pi Azure IoT Web Simulator to Simulate Device Telemetry [https://azure-samples.github.io/raspberry-pi-web-simulator/#GetStarted]
   • Click on the link above and locate line 15,carefully delete the text inside the speech mark.
   • Then paste the primary connection string into the speech mark and run the code.

Step 3:Storing Telemetry Data in Azure Blob Storage.

1. Create an Azure Blob Storage Account:
   • In the Azure Portal, create a new storage account.
   • Select "Storage accounts" and click "Add".

• Fill in the required details and create the account.

1. Configure Message Routing: Navigate to the messaging routing.
2. Add a new route:
   • Name the route (e.g., storeToBlob).
   • Define the endpoint type as "Storage".
   • Select your storage account and container.

• Specify the routing query (e.g., true to route all messages).
• Click "Save".

1. Verify Data Storage: After configuring message routing, telemetry data from your simulated device will be stored in the specified blob storage container. You can verify this by checking the container in your storage account.

Clean up resources

If you want to remove all of the Azure resources you used for this tutorial, delete the resource group. This action deletes all resources contained within the group. If you don't want to delete the entire resource group, use the Azure portal to locate and delete the individual resources.

In this blog, we walked through the steps to create a practical IoT solution using Azure IoT Hub. We set up an IoT Hub, registered a device, simulated device telemetry data, and configured message routing to store the data in Azure Blob Storage. This solution provides a robust foundation for developing more complex IoT applications with Azure services.

By leveraging Azure IoT Hub and other Azure services, you can build a comprehensive IoT ecosystem tailored to your specific needs.