Qnap and Arduino Together to Offer Private Cloud for IoT Developers

Arduino SRL, an open-source ecosystem for educators, makers and IoT developers, and QNAP Systems, Inc., supplier of NAS platforms, announced its partnership to give IoT developers the ability to extend QNAP to enable secure processing and storage of local data with extended connectivity through the use of a variety of Arduino hardware.

The QIoT Suite Lite software (using container technology) will be ‘Arduino ready’ by 1Q17, giving developers a choice in deployment and storage of the massive data to be generated by IoT applications.

“Arduino provides low-cost, open micro-controller technology, increasingly deployed by Makers to create unique IoT devices,” said YT, Lee QNAP VP. “We continue to serve as storage and high-end data processing, with easy-to-use UI, giving customers the ability to connect to and visualize the data generated by their IoT projects. From streaming IP camera video, to home audio systems, to sensors and smarter appliances, to locks and security, the connected things will generate a variety data, some needing to be stored for long periods of time, and some for a few days. Storage, albeit often in the background, is a critical component of the IoT.“

“This partnership is giving creative IoT Makers the ability to build or download 3rd party applications that can be run on QNAP their own personal IoT cloud,” said Kathy Giori, Arduino VP of operations. “IoT developers need to be able to connect to and store various types of data; and with a lack of agreed upon ecosystem standards, and the fear of sending everything to the cloud, open source plus local processing and storage becomes critical. In addition to QNAP’s direct Ethernet and USB ports, developers can use the Arduino Yun or Tian platforms to connect to IoT devices over Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). Other connectivity such as LoRa can be included as a shield. Arduino boards plus QNAP functionality enables creative IoT solutions to be easily created and deployed. Users can install both commercial IoT products and Arduino-based widgets designed just for themselves, then create their own logic on QNAP to tie the things together.“

QIoT Suite Lite provides a variety of protocols and dashboard applications that enable developers to use sensors on development boards, and deploy applications such as node-RED and freeboard on QNAP NAS. Data received from sensors can be communicated to the QNAP NAS using multiple protocols (MQTT, CoAP, etc.), while users remotely monitor their home environment with the dashboard.

Arduino Yun and Tian enable Wi-Fi and BLE connectivity, bridging wireless sensors and IoT devices to the QNAP, which currently supports Ethernet and USB. The Arduino Uno Wi-Fi, Star Otto, and Primo platforms can be connected wirelessly to the Yun or Tian, giving developers options as they develop commercial IoT solutions.