Network

The data that has been generated now needs to be carried to the processing centres where it will be processed. The networks could be wired or wireless, and low-speed to very-high speed networks. The type of network depends upon the type of traffic to be transported.

With IP becoming the de facto standard of communications, the networks are typically IP networks, while smaller localized networks could use some of the IoT protocols described earlier, and connect to the IP network through gateways.

The IP network will consist of switches and routers, and other devices such as firewalls, load balancers, and DC switches from different vendors. Each of these devices is a package of hardware and software: hardware that forwards the packets and provides the interfaces and software that provides the logic and protocols that would be used on the network.