Many laypeople have become accustomed to the internet being an alternative to physical things. Whether you’re replacing your spiral notebook with a digital to-do list or using virtualized machines to take the place of physical computer parts, “going virtual” has frequently been used as a shorthand for the process of eliminating the need to use physical hardware.
But what about using the internet as a partner for hardware, rather than a replacement for it? We can only only virtualize hardware to a certain extent. Instead of pushing the limits of what we can virtualize, many computer scientists are enthralled with pushing the limits of what we can enhance by connecting it to the cloud. This thinking stretches well beyond computers. Everything from warehouse inventory to a home’s coffee machine can potentially be improved by making it a part of the Internet of Things.
The internet of things (“IoT”) can be briefly defined as the virtual network that monitors and connects the objects and people that are connected with it. The IoT has a few basic components: the things themselves, the built-in technology that connects them to the internet, and the internet servers that collect, analyze, and make decisions based on the data they collect about the things themselves. The things that make up the IoT are sometimes able to communicate with each other through the cloud servers, but they must always be able to communicate with the cloud servers themselves in some way.
The constant connectivity offered by the IoT has given us a number of exciting technological possibilities. Tracking inventory by using RFID tags, for example, has revolutionized distribution and shipping enterprises and allowed them to drastically reduce both waste and the risk of lost products. More recently, the IoT has been used to make homes and buildings more energy efficient by connecting thermostats through the cloud.
Although advances in virtualization are allowing us to use less and less hardware, they are also allowing us to use hardware in better, smarter, more efficient ways. It will be exciting to see how future advances in connectivity technology give us new possibilitie for partnering physical hardware with a virtual network.
WGS takes a keen interest in the latest advances in virtualization technology and the Internet of Things. Please feel free to contact us for more information about our products and services.
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