What is the ThingWorx Azure IoT Hub Connector?
The ThingWorx Azure IoT Hub Connector integrates devices that use a Microsoft Azure IoT SDK with the ThingWorx Platform. An installation of the ThingWorx Azure IoT Hub Connector consists of the following components:
• The ThingWorx Azure IoT Hub Connector, which handles translation of messages as well as communication between an Azure IoT Hub and the ThingWorx platform.
• An Azure IoT Extension that adds Azure-specific entities when imported into a ThingWorx Platform.
• The ThingWorx Connection Services Extension, which provides the Connection Services Hub.
Once you have installed, configured, and started the Azure IoT Hub Connector, you can add Azure IoT entities using ThingWorx Composer to represent your devices. Alternatively, you can import device data into ThingWorx from an Azure IoT Hub. Once you configure devices to connect with the Azure IoT Hub, the Azure IoT Hub Connector detects the data and pushes it to the ThingWorx Platform. By pushing data to ThingWorx, you can take advantage of its features for developing applications quickly and easily. For example, you can use ThingWorx Composer and Mashup Builder to model your things and build user interfaces and applications, or use the data in ThingWorx Analytics to analyze data and generate reports. Connecting to ThingWorx enables you to fully interact with these devices and use the data to transform your business.
Azure IoT Edge Devices vs Azure IoT Devices
Azure IoT Edge devices behave differently than Azure IoT Devices an may not communicate with asynchronous inbound messaging in the same way through the Azure IoT Hub. Specifically, Azure IoT Edge devices contain edge modules that have no Cloud-to_Modules (C2M) messaging capability but do have a Module-to-Cloud (M2C) capability as well as direct method invocation when directly connected to the Azure IoT Hub. Cloud-to-Device (C2D) messaging is available for both Azure IoT Edge devices as well as Azure IoT Devices. Device-to-Cloud (D2C) messaging is available for both Azure IoT Edge devices and Azure IoT Devices.
Azure IoT Edge devices do not provide any mechanism to indicate device connection to the IoT Hub reliably. While there is a connected property in the device/module twin, Microsoft has explicitly stated that those values are not reliable and not intended for production use - just for debugging. Microsoft recommends Edge developers create their own mechanism for announcing connectivity of their Edge devices. This could take the form of a heartbeat message or some other mechanism. Keep in mind that there may be costs involved with chatty connectivity protocols.
Azure IoT Hub and Group Binding
The Azure IoT Hub Connector uses a routing group name when binding the Azure IoT Hub to its corresponding Thing in the ThingWorx Platform. The outbound messaging or egress destined for the Azure IoT Hub and the Azure IoT devices and Azure IoT Edge devices associated with the hub are randomly distributed to all the connectors that perform the group bind. By default, the Azure IoT Hub Connector supports binding the Azure IoT Hub using the hub-thing-name of the Azure IoT Hub Thing as the name of the routing group. You do not need to change this setting unless you need to use a different name.
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If the routing-group is set to null or an empty String, then this configuration setting is rejected and the Connector does not start up.
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At runtime, the Connector invokes a service that retrieves the value of the routing group configuration setting and uses it to bind the Azure IoT Hub. This effectively binds all of the Azure IoT Devices and Azure IoT Edge devices to their corresponding Things.