This FAQ will explain what cloud computing is, how the BB-400 can be connected to the cloud using Node-RED software and also what cloud services are available on your device.

What is cloud computing?

Traditionally, PCs connect to a local computer network to access, process and analyse data. In cloud computing, users instead connect to a network of remote servers hosted on the Internet (these servers are known as the “cloud”). Companies essentially rent computing infrastructure to access applications, storage and a variety of other services. As companies do not own the infrastructure or have to pay for running costs, they just pay for what they use and can save money, time and other resources.

In order to get data to the cloud it must be sent using a secure, authenticated transport (which we call cloud connectors). This article will link to step-by-step guides explaining how the BB-400 uses cloud connectors to send data to the cloud.

Cloud services available on the BB-400

We have documented how to connect the BB-400 to four different cloud services: IBM Cloud, Front End for Node-RED (or FRED), AWS and Azure, and how to send data to the cloud, receive data from the cloud, and vice-versa using Node-RED.

Below is a summary of each cloud service with links to FAQs that explain how to connect your device to the relevant cloud service.

IBM	IBM Cloud is a popular cloud platform and supports the IBM Watson IoT Platform, which is a cloud service that can connect IoT sensors using IBM Cloud. For more details on how to set up an IBM Cloud and IBM Watson platform please see the following FAQ: IBM Cloud FAQ.
FRED	FRED is a cloud service that manages Node-RED instances. It has been independently developed by Sense Tecnic, an IoT solutions provider. Please see the FRED FAQ for more details on how to connect your device’s Node-RED instance to FRED, and how to send and receive information to and from FRED.
AWS	AWS is a cloud service provided by Amazon. AWS includes an IoT Core that allows you to connect your devices to AWS, and an MQTT client connection to connect your device’s Node-RED instance to AWS. Our AWS FAQ provides information on how to create an AWS account, how to connect your device to AWS and how to send and receive information from AWS.
Azure	Azure is Microsoft’s cloud computing service. Our Azure FAQ details how to create an Azure account, how to connect your device to Azure via Node-RED and how to send the BB-400’s IO status to the cloud.

Other cloud services can be easily added, either through custom code put on the device, or by adding additional nodes to Node-RED: Speak to the Brainboxes Support Team Today!