Hi, welcome to This is My Architecture.
I am Jason Wang, a Solutions Architect of AWS.
Today, we are glad to have Minche Tsai, the technical head of SoftChef.
Hi, Minche. Hey, Jason.
Minche, can you tell us a little about SoftChef,
as well as the services it provides?
SoftChef is a cloud software firm focusing on IoT,
and mainly offers solutions for both software and hardware integration.
By means of our SaaS products, we aim to help customers who are not familiar with AWS IoT,
to quickly build up their own cloud architecture by automatic implementation.
OK. It sounds like your system and services
help customers to quickly build an AWS IoT application system. Exactly.
As we know, IoT system is pretty complex, it sometimes has issues like credentials managing,
device managing or security problems. How does your system solve these problems?
At present, most of our hurdles involve our customers.
To be more specific, there are 2 types of customers.
First, we have the traditional hardware manufacturers.
They want to transform through the advantages of IoT
However, they are not familiar with cloud computing.
Our products help them build the cloud, so they can focus on hardware developing and upgrading.
For example, they can work on the hardware so that
the devices can be connected to the IoT. They can then complete the implementation.
OK. Sounds like a hardware manufacturer can enter the cloud world of IoT,
but still focuses on the development of hardware and device application system with your assistance.
Data can be transferred directly to the cloud. Precisely.
OK. Tell me about the second type.
Due to the emergence of a new business model of IoT,
the 2nd type of customers might need personnel managing services, energy saving can be achieved
through smart meters and machine learning.
However, they are actually new to software and hardware.
SoftChef also provides AWS IoT with integrated hardware,
there's also corresponding software for use. This way, companies can spend more time on business expanding.
OK, so the second type sounds more advanced. You have already completed the IoT application system,
and the customers only need to upload his data to the IoT system through your technology.
Therefore, they can focus more on data analysis and the value-adding commercial features.
That's right. There is an architectural diagram here.
Can you tell us a little about your system?
Our system is built mainly with CloudFormation
We modularized Serverless Application Repository for software development.
Right in the middle is the AWS account of the customer.
Via CloudFormation, we deploy IoT related services directly to the account.
In terms of the hardware, Gateway integrates the software called Greengrass.
It can collect some devices on the ground.
Through IoT Core and Rules Engine, data is finally delivered to DynamoDB.
After that, web page or mobile app might need to be developed.
We will then log in as a member
or register through Cognito.
So, after this is done, we can access the API gateway,
capture the data in DynamoDB with the Lambda function, and present it to the client.
For the other part, you can also connect to MQTT through IoT Core.
This way, you can make an instant presentation of the data sent from the device.
Or control the device through the IoT Shadow.
Two things intrigued me in this structure.
First, I see that the entire environment is available for the customer’s account after developing status
As a result, all of this environment is under the control of the customer.
Therefore, customers won't need to worry about issues concerning confidentiality
as everything is under their own control.
That's right. Second, I see that this structure
employed the serverless feature over and over.
Can you tell us what the advantage of such feature in IoT applications is?
Sure. For IoT applications, one of the most common issues is that the customers are using
tens of thousands of devices.
Due to such huge number of connections, our main concern
fell on maintenance and operation costs.
For maintenance, our top choices are auto scaling and load balancer.
Serverless service is built on AWS's basic services.
Therefore, we don't have to worry about it. We'll just need to focus on development,
as well as application.
Cost is another concern.
In the beginning of the operation, there aren't a lot of devices connected.
The overall expenses are then low,
since Serverless feature is billed based on the usage.
So it is cheaper at first due to small amount of usage.
However, after more devices started to connect,
based on our experiences,
programming with server will cost you more.
In contrary, a serverless system will be cheaper.
This is why serverless programming is perfect for IoT applications.
Serverless programming helps users to
have flexibility in both programming and cost, and is perfect for IoT with numerous device activities.
Exactly. Finally, we know there are many IoT application scenarios,
so in your experience, what are the most common scenarios for your customers?
Our most common application lies in personnel management.
I will use a street light management system as an example.
Via Greengrass Gateway, we collect data from ground-level street lights or some environmental monitoring devices
and upload it to the cloud. After that, we employ some analytical services,
like IoT Analytics or SageMakert of Machine Learning.
We can make analysis from the collected data.
For example, from the changes of local air quality,
we can predict that some street lights might have malfunction.
The team can then change or repair the lights before any issues occur.
Thus, the quality of the entire IoT service is enhanced.
We can find it easier to build a smart city
with an IoT application system.
Yes. I heard a lot of IoT applications
and experience. Thank you, Minche. Thank you, Jason.
Thank you for watching This is My Architecture.