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HPE Aruba Networking IoT Operations
IoT Operations works with HPE Aruba Networking APs running AOS-10.
HPE Aruba Networking Central provides IoT Connector control, management, and dashboard visibility. The dashboard provides a view of the IoT Connectors, IoT devices, and installed applications. An application store that contains the applications from supported partners is integrated with HPE Aruba Networking Central. HPE Aruba Networking Central does not store the device data, display the device data, or derive insights from the device data. The following is an illustration of IoT Operations architecture.
Figure 1 IoT Operations Architecture
Terminology
IoT Operations uses the following terminology:
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
|
Data Collector |
A Data Collector is a platform that processes network data. A Data Collector is available both as a physical appliance or a virtual appliance. |
|
IoT Connector |
An IoT Connector is an application that runs on the Data Collector platform. The IoT Connector receives IoT data from APs through a secure tunnel. An IoT Connector sends the IoT metadata to HPE Aruba Networking Central and the IoT device details to the endpoints of third party partners. |
|
IoT Transport Profile |
An IoT transport profile allows an IoT Connector to send the collected IoT data to a partner server. |
|
IoT Radio Profile |
An IoT radio profile runs on an AP and it allows an AP to collect IoT data from the IoT devices. |
|
Apps |
Apps are developed by partners and are available on the App Store. Apps are deployed on IoT Connectors and run inside the IoT Connector. |
|
Applications |
Applications is an element in the HPE Aruba Networking Central web user interface. |
|
IoT Devices |
IoT devices are client devices using BLE Bluetooth Low Energy. The BLE functionality is offered by Bluetooth® to enable devices to run for long durations with low power consumption., Zigbee, or other protocols to communicate with HPE Aruba Networking APs. |
Specifications
IoT Operations supports the following specifications:
| Parameter | Mini VM Virtual Machine. A VM is an emulation of a computer system. VMs are based on computer architectures and provide functionality of a physical computer. | Small VM | Medium VM | DC-2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
APs |
50 |
250 |
1000 |
1000 |
|
BLE Devices |
2000 |
5000 |
20000 |
20000 |
|
Zigbee Devices |
200 |
500 |
2000 |
2000 |
The DC-2000 is a physical appliance.
The IoT Connectors support the following specifications:
| Parameter | Mini VM | Small VM | Medium VM | DC-2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
4 |
8 |
24 |
24 |
|
|
Memory (GB) |
4 |
16 |
64 |
64 |
|
Storage (GB) |
256 |
256 |
480 |
512 |
IoT Connectors are available as virtual appliances or physical appliances. Before you can use an IoT Connector, you need to set up appliances. To setup virtual appliances, see Setting Up Virtual Appliances.
Licensing
IoT Operations is available to HPE Aruba Networking Central customers using AOS-10, with Foundation and/or Advanced AP licenses. Separate licenses are not required for IoT Operations.
IoT Operations utilizes an IoT Connector to receive IoT data from APs and sends IoT device metadata to HPE Aruba Networking Central and IoT data to partner cloud servers. The APs that are assigned to an IoT Connector utilize their IoT radios to act as IoT gateways for myriad IoT devices in the physical environment.
HPE Aruba Networking uses the license tier of APs assigned to your IoT Connector to determine the user experience. Currently, that user experience is differentiated in the IoT Operations Application Store. You will either have access to all apps in the IoT Operations Application Store or some of the apps in the IoT Operations Application Store. Regardless of license tier, the supported scale and base functionality of IoT Operations are the same. In the future, HPE Aruba Networking may add new capabilities to IoT Operations which may extend across apps or even be offered independently of the apps themselves. The user experience is currently determined in IoT Operations as:
- When all APs assigned to an IoT Connector have an Advanced AP license, you have access to all apps in the IoT Operations Application Store.
- When at least one AP assigned to an IoT Connector has a Foundation AP license, you have access to a subset of apps in the IoT Operations Application Store. The apps that are available are shown in full color, while the apps that are unavailable are shaded gray.
Filters can be used in the IoT Operations App Store user interface to further refine your app search.
IoT Operations App Matrix
IoT Operations supports the following apps:
| IoT Operations App | Supported on VM-based IoT Connector | Minimum AOS-10 version for VM-based IoT Connector | Supported on AP-based IoT Connector | Minimum AOS-10 version for AP-based IoT Connector | License Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Assa Abloy |
Yes |
AOS-10.3.1.4 |
Future |
Not applicable |
Foundation |
|
AOS-8 Emulator |
Yes |
AOS-10.3.x |
Future |
Not applicable |
Foundation |
|
Aruba Devices |
Yes |
AOS-10.3.x |
Yes |
AOS-10.5.x |
Foundation |
|
Eddystone Devices |
Yes |
AOS-10.3.x |
Yes |
AOS-10.5.x |
Foundation |
|
iBecons |
Yes |
AOS-10.3.x |
Yes |
AOS-10.5.x |
Foundation |
|
EnOcean BLE |
Yes |
AOS-10.3.x |
Yes |
AOS-10.5.x |
Foundation |
|
Minew Devices |
Yes |
AOS-10.3.x |
Yes |
AOS-10.5.x |
Foundation |
|
Blyott Devices * |
Yes |
AOS-10.3.x |
Future * |
Not applicable |
Foundation |
|
Dormakaba |
Yes |
AOS-10.4.x |
Future |
Not applicable |
Foundation |
|
Yes |
AOS-10.4.x |
Future * |
AOS-10.5.x |
Foundation |
|
|
Hanshow |
Yes |
AOS-10.4.x |
Yes |
AOS-10.5.x |
Foundation |
|
SoluM |
Yes |
AOS-10.4.x |
Yes |
AOS-10.5.x |
Foundation |
|
Amberbox Gunshot Detection |
Yes |
AOS-10.4.x |
Yes |
AOS-10.5.x |
Foundation |
|
Securitas BLE |
Yes |
AOS-10.4.0.1 |
Yes |
AOS-10.5.x |
Foundation |
|
TraknProtect Sensors |
Yes |
AOS-10.4.0.2 |
Yes |
AOS-10.5.x |
Foundation |
|
Onity IoT |
Yes |
AOS-10.5.0.0 |
Future |
Not applicable |
Foundation |
|
Meridian |
Yes |
AOS-10.5.1.0 |
Future |
Not applicable |
Foundation |
|
Hypros Location and IoT |
Yes |
AOS-10.4.0.0 |
Future |
Not applicable |
Foundation |
|
IoT Transport for Azure |
Yes |
AOS-10.4.1.0 |
Future |
Not applicable |
Foundation |
|
VusionGroup |
Yes |
AOS-10.7.0.0 |
Yes |
AOS-10.7.0.0 |
Foundation |
* Blyott and EnOcean apps require the use of the AOS-8 emulator app to transport data. AOS-8 emulator utilizes a container, and container-based apps are not yet supported on AP-based IoT connector.
AP-based IoT Connector
The AOS-10 APs enable IoT functionality via the IoT connector application that runs on the HPE Aruba Networking data collector appliance. For small and medium business networks that have simple IoT application requirements or for large networks that have a small number of APs distributed across multiple sites, the HPE Aruba Networking APs can be converted into IoT Connectors. The AP-based IoT Connectors support IoT connector applications like basic BLE data filtering and forwarding and USB-serial data forwarding on the AP.
The AP-based IoT Connector connects to IoT Operations on HPE Aruba Networking Central after getting the initial AP boot-strapping configuration from the HPE Aruba Networking Central. The AP boot-strapping information includes BLE Daemon (BD), API Application Programming Interface. Refers to a set of functions, procedures, protocols, and tools that enable users to build application software. Gateway (APIG), and Container Host (COHO)
The AP-based IoT Connector allows container-based applications to run agnostic of AP infrastructure. This allows the third-party container to interact the same way they do on the standalone IoT Connector.
For more information, see the following topics:
