About HiveMQ

HiveMQ helps companies move data to and from connected devices in an efficient, fast, and reliable manner using MQTT technology. More than 130 customers with production IoT applications worldwide are using HiveMQ to bridge the gap between OT (Operational Technology) and IT (Information Technology) and address the challenges of siloed data caused by proprietary software and protocols.

HiveMQ is an MQTT broker and a client-based messaging platform designed for instant, bi-directional push of data between your device and your enterprise systems. Key features include high availability, security, real-time troubleshooting, and management tools, among others.

A key motivator in Digital Transformation projects is that real-time data can yield meaningful performance improvements for businesses. HiveMQ uses non-proprietary, open, established technology based on publish-subscribe architecture to make this a reality for customers.

For more information, please visit HiveMQ.

Integration with Opto 22

Opto 22’s groov EPIC edge programmable industrial controller and groov RIO Ethernet edge I/O products support the MQTT protocol with Sparkplug B payload natively, or via Ignition Edge® from Inductive Automation® on board. These MQTT/SparkplugB-enabled devices ensure that OT and IT data is easily exchanged across infrastructure through the HiveMQ broker.

What problems can it solve?

Siloed OT systems data

The Problem: A common challenge with sharing operational system data with business systems is that plant floor protocols and traditional poll-response architectures can result in a “spaghetti” architecture with many inter-dependencies that are difficult to maintain. This tight coupling between devices and services makes it difficult to to change workflows and processes, add new devices, and analyze data across the entire system.

The Solution: A way to address this problem is with a decoupled architecture. With a central data hub that acts as a messaging broker—like HiveMQ—OT devices such as PLCs and gateways as well as IT systems such as MES and historians all connect directly to this single data hub. Data exchange is facilitated by the MQTT protocol, a publish-subscribe methodology that decouples devices and applications while also being lightweight, extensible, reliable, and secure.

Different data formats

The Problem: Though MQTT is one of the most common “behind the scenes” protocols today over the internet when it comes to connecting devices, there still can be issues. Devices and endpoints can have different topics, payloads, and data structures. These differences can mean the payload has no context and must be interpreted.

The Solution: Used with MQTT, Sparkplug is a simple, open specification that enables plug-and-play interoperability between IIoT devices and applications. Sparkplug defines a topic namespace, data model and structure, extensible process variable payload, and MQTT state management.

Required scalability and resilience

The Problem: Companies that implement MQTT/Sparkplug need to ensure that the MQTT system is scalable and resilient. An MQTT broker needs to be able to handle large volumes of messages, at very low latency rates. The MQTT broker also needs to be resilient to failures, so that the overall system does not have a single source of failure.

The Solution: HiveMQ can be deployed to cluster systems running on public clouds, like MS Azure or AWS, or on-premises clustering systems. A clustered architecture allows HiveMQ to scale up and down as the system traffic demands. The ability to failover MQTT client connections from one cluster to another allows for transparent resilience to the overall system.

Lack of in-house experience

The Problem: Some organizations don’t have the in-house expertise to operate an MQTT broker platform and look to outside experts to help with the management of an MQTT broker.

The Solution: HiveMQ Cloud is a fully managed MQTT broker solution. Customers can rely upon the expertise of HiveMQ staff to successfully manage the deployment of their MQTT broker.
 

Have questions or an application you’d like to discuss? Please contact us.