AWS IoT Device Management: Features and How It Works

AWS IoT Device Management is a cloud service that allows you to efficiently manage all your digital devices.

Nowadays, there's a strong demand for cloud-based management services. As devices continue to grow and networks become more complex, managing them is becoming increasingly challenging.

IDC forecasts that by 2025, the global datasphere will grow to 163 zettabytes, ten times the 16.3 ZB of data generated in 2016. Today, the average connected person interacts with more than 4000 connected devices. As our lives become more digitalized, the impact of IoT (Internet of Things) will continue to grow. 

IoT is what makes our homes, sensors, and products smart today. There is hardly any industry sector that is untouched by IoT. There are countless IoT use cases, from automation and wearables to smartphones and healthcare.

What is AWS IoT Device Management?

AWS IoT Device Management is a cloud service designed to manage Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Think of it as a central control panel where you can connect and manage any number of devices. Whether you need to add new devices, organize them into groups, track their status, or control them, AWS (Amazon Web Services) IoT Device Management provides all the features you need to handle devices effortlessly.

You can add and manage devices of any scale without worrying about performance. AWS is known for its scalability, which means that no matter how complex your network is, it will run seamlessly. 

Using this service, you can categorize, index, search, and organize different devices with ease. It allows you to manage thousands to millions of devices efficiently without performance issues. You can also add various devices seamlessly.

If you didn't know, AWS offers around 14 to 15 additional services specifically for IoT, which you can integrate with AWS IoT Device Management to enhance your IoT operations.

In the upcoming sections, we will explore some of the features of this service and how you can use them to simplify your operations.

AWS IoT Device Management Features

It helps world-renowned companies like Vizio, Bayer, and Blueair manage millions of devices. What makes it unique is that it includes several features that make IoT management much easier. You can categorize different devices, index them, and then search and organize them efficiently.

The system offers these features to optimize its performance. In addition to these, there are many other special features that can make IoT management incredibly easy for you.

Let's dive into some of these features in detail. Moreover, with over 15 integrated services, you can elevate your IoT management to a whole new level.

1. Bulk upload 

This feature allows you to upload devices in bulk easily. If you have a template with information like the number of devices, their manufacturer IDs, and other details you've created, you can upload multiple updates in bulk. AWS IoT Device Management provides a way to do this efficiently, and you can also use APIs for this purpose.

For example, if you have a list with device manufacturer serial numbers and certificates, you can configure them all at once using this bulk update feature.

2. Device filtering

You can organize your devices into different groups based on how they function, their security needs, or any other category you choose. For example, you might group devices by the room they are in, by their location on a specific floor, or by their presence in a building.

Once you've grouped your devices, you can manage them more efficiently.  

For example, you can set rules about who can access the devices, monitor how well they're working, or make updates to all devices in that group at the same time. This makes it easier to handle large numbers of devices.

You can also use "dynamic thing groups" to automate this process. These groups will automatically include devices that meet your set criteria and exclude those that no longer fit, keeping your organization up to date without manual adjustments.

3. Advanced search and index

You can organize and search through your devices to get useful information. For example, you can look up all the temperature sensors in a factory, check how many of them have the same firmware version, and see the average temperature reading from those sensors. This helps you keep track of and understand your devices better.

4. Monitor system performance 

Monitoring your system is crucial for keeping your IoT solutions running smoothly. With AWS IoT Device Management, you can collect logs from your devices. If something goes wrong, you can look at these logs to figure out the problem.

You can set up the logs to track only the important performance metrics so you can spot issues faster. For example, you might track error codes that show download failures or counters that indicate how often a device restarts. This helps you quickly identify and fix problems with devices in your group.

5. Remote management

You can manage and update your devices remotely to keep them secure and functioning well. With AWS IoT Device Management, you can send software and firmware updates to devices out in the field. This lets you fix security issues and add new features.

You can do bulk updates, set schedules for when updates should be applied, control how quickly updates are rolled out, and define how to handle failures. You can also automate updates so that devices always run the latest version of their software.

If needed, you can remotely reboot devices or reset them to factory settings to fix problems or restore them to their original state. Additionally, you can digitally sign the files you send to ensure they are secure.

For FreeRTOS devices, you can use AWS IoT Device Management to schedule and manage over-the-air updates. The same goes for AWS IoT Greengrass Core devices, where you can deploy updates, bug fixes, and new features.

6. Device tunnel

You can set up secure, two-way communication with remote devices using AWS IoT Device Management. This feature creates a "device tunnel," which is a secure connection that allows you to communicate with individual devices remotely. This makes it easy to diagnose and fix problems with your devices.

You can also connect multiple clients through a single secure tunnel, allowing you to perform more complex troubleshooting, like running commands on the device and debugging applications at the same time.

Secure tunneling helps you access devices on isolated networks or behind firewalls without needing to adjust firewall settings or manage proxies. The connection is established through a secure tunnel that both ends initiate, and it's protected by encryption using Transport Layer Security (TLS). You can also set a timeout for these connections, ensuring they close automatically after a certain period.

7. Software package version management 

With AWS IoT Device Management's Software Package Catalog, you can easily track and monitor the software versions on your devices. You can see everything from a central dashboard and update specific devices running certain software versions.

The Software Package Catalog works well with AWS IoT Device Management's fleet indexing, so you can quickly find and view how different software versions are spread across all your devices. This makes it simple to take targeted actions. For instance, you can use AWS IoT Device Management Jobs to update only devices with a specific software version.

8. Device performance visualization

It lets you see real-time information about your devices, like their connection status, firmware version, country code, or battery level. You can set alerts that notify you when something goes wrong based on certain rules. For example, if a device's battery is low, you can get an alert and then take action, like updating the device's software or rebooting it.

Fleet Hub works smoothly with other AWS IoT features, so you can perform tasks like updating devices remotely or securely connecting to them for reconfiguration. IT admins can also manage who has access to this data by adding users from their company's directory and setting permissions for what they can see and do.

AWS IoT Core Use Cases

Now, let's discuss some specific uses of this service, particularly in the manufacturing and fleet management industry. In the manufacturing industry, this service is extensively used to manage devices. Some popular use cases include remotely monitoring devices, organizing device fleets, and managing the software and sensors across devices.

As mentioned earlier, it provides monitoring, grouping, remote management, and registration features. These features allow you to organize your devices efficiently, group them, and monitor them remotely.

AWS IoT Device Management Pricing

1. Bulk Registration

$0.10 for every 1,000 devices you add. Let's say you have added 10,000 devices; it will cost you $1.00.

2. Fleet Indexing and Search

$2.25 for every 1 million updates and $0.05 for every 10,000 searches you do.

If you have 10,000 devices and each device gets updated 300 times a month, with each update being 1.5KB in size, you'll be billed for 6 million updates. This would cost you $13.50. And If you search for devices 500,000 times in a month, it would cost you $2.50.

3. Device Jobs

You will be charged $0.003 per action for the first 250,000 actions, and if actions beyond 250,000, you will be charged $0.0015 per action.  

Example: If you do 5,000 actions, it will cost you $15.00 (5,000 times $0.003).And if you do 600,000 actions in a month, you'll pay $750 for the first 250,000 actions and $525 for the remaining 350,000 actions, totaling $1,275.

4. Secure Tunneling

$1.00 for each secure connection you set up, In this way, if you open 30 secure connections, it will cost you $30.00.

5. Fleet Hub

There's no extra charge for using Fleet Hub itself. You only pay for the other AWS IoT features and services you use. If you have five users who perform a mix of actions, searches, and remote updates, you might end up paying around $22.59 for their combined usage.

These charges are for the US East region. Charges may vary from one region to another. You can refer to this page and use the AWS price calculator to calculate the entire cost.

 Does it require expertise?

So far, we've discussed some of the service's features and pricing. However, using this service effectively does require some expertise. You need the right skills and certified AWS experts to work with AWS and get the most out of it.

AWS offers a comprehensive platform with many services for managing business operations. To benefit from these services, having the necessary expertise is essential.

Many businesses use AWS services, but sometimes their usage isn't as effective as it could be. One reason could be that they don't know how to use the services properly. 

In such cases, optimizing AWS by creating tailored solutions can improve your return on investment. You can either hire an expert AWS developer or outsource to an AWS consulting company to get the most out of AWS. Additionally, you can offload management tasks to a third-party company that handles these services on your behalf.

If you want to offload part of your business operations to the cloud or optimize your cloud platform, you can contact us. We are a certified AWS development company offering consulting, development, and optimization services.

As an AWS partner, we have access to exclusive resources and discounted prices that can help you grow. If you're interested, we're open to discussing how we can move forward and assist you with your AWS needs.

Conclusion 

In this article, we discussed some features and benefits of one of AWS's popular services, AWS IoT Device Management. AWS Cloud is a highly reputed and robust platform, ideal for growing your business without worrying about infrastructure. It offers an infrastructure that is virtually infinitely scalable and available 24/7.

Whether you need highly secure storage, want to host a website or application, or are looking to develop complex applications, AWS has over 300 services available. These services are used by both small and large organizations alike. 

We hope you found this article informative. We'd love to hear your thoughts and suggestions. If you have any questions or feedback, feel free to let us know—we're here to listen.