DreamFactory Software announced that its market-leading open source REST API backend can now be paired with the Intel IoT Gateway to power a wide array of emerging IoT applications. DreamFactory eliminates a time-consuming hurdle that confronts developers: building APIs to store, process and access IoT data collected by a wide array of device types, platforms and interface methods.

In combination with the Intel IoT Gateway, DreamFactory, a general member of the Intel Internet of Things Solutions Alliance, provides RESTful web services that simplify the connection of IoT sensors, devices and gateways to backend services, and accelerate the development of applications and services that leverage IoT data.

“The combination of DreamFactory and Intel can play a significant role in enabling IoT for commercial, consumer and industrial applications. We share a vision for relieving developers of time spent on building custom interfaces, so they can more rapidly build applications that put IoT data to work for both businesses and end users,” said Bill Appleton, co-founder and CEO of DreamFactory.

“Data-driven Internet of Things applications depend on trusting the data source. The Intel IoT Gateway provides the security and manageability required for maintaining a quality data pipeline from the edge,” said Geetha Dabir, vice president and general manager of the Application-Ready Platforms Division with the Intel Internet of Things Group. “Combined with our rich set of connectivity and runtime capabilities, it’s easy to build connected solutions starting with Intel IOT Gateways at the edge, and intelligently directing the right data to DreamFactory’s API services. Together it just makes for a solution that’s readily tailored for unique applications and a faster time to market.”

Because Intel and DreamFactory support popular open standards such as RESTful web services, developers can now tackle a wide range of IoT applications that, until now, have been dominated by large companies that market closed, proprietary software. FramTack, a development firm that specializes in embedded and industrial automation technology, is using DreamFactory, FramTack’s Solution Family software and Intel IoT Gateway hardware to connect IP-based smart devices that monitor industrial equipment to sophisticated cloud-based services and applications.

“The DreamFactory REST API backend saves us from having to build custom APIs and complex server-side software to interface with cloud services and application databases,” said Chris Tacke, CTO of FramTack LLC, an innovator and thought leader in machine-to-machine (M2M) technology. “With DreamFactory, we can create, collect, aggregate and cloud-publish data from any device or machine, with complete flexibility to read and write to any cloud, and to connect that data with different cloud services. This dramatically shortens our prototyping and development phases.”

FAST FACTS: DREAMFACTORY AND IoT
DreamFactory helps speed development of secure IoT applications in several ways. On an Intel IoT Gateway, DreamFactory provides secure REST APIs to both local data storage as well as remote databases and cloud services. For IoT analytics and other business applications built on IoT sensor data, DreamFactory provides secure, reusable, customizable REST APIs to virtually any backend data source, including SQL, NoSQL, file storage, and more.

With DreamFactory serving as a REST API backend, application development time and effort are greatly reduced compared to building custom APIs.

  • Ease of setup – any HTTP-capable device can be connected to DreamFactory.
  • Flexibility – to store and process sensor data in whatever data store is needed, including object storage, semi-structured NoSQL databases, and SQL databases.
  • Security – DreamFactory provides advanced authentication and role-based access controls to data sources and associated tables.

RESOURCES AVAILABLE FOR DEVELOPERS
To accelerate the development of IoT applications, DreamFactory has created several useful developer resources:

1. In collaboration with Intel, DreamFactory has developed a tutorial that demonstrates how to set up an Intel IoT Gateway to write sensor data to any SQL or NoSQL database using DreamFactory to enable backend database access.
2. A comprehensive webinar “Storing & Accessing IoT Data with an Open Source RESTful Backend” presented by noted IoT expert, Janakiram MSV, is available. Learn how to transform IoT protocols such as Bluetooth Low Energy, ZigBee, and WiFi into industry-standard HTTP; use open source tools to query real-time data streams; and build dashboards that provide real-time visualization of sensor data.
3. A case study that highlights the role DreamFactory plays in the industrial IoT is also available.

DREAMFACTORY ACCELERATES THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN APPLICATIONS
DreamFactory is an Apache-licensed open source REST API backend that provides RESTful services for building modern mobile, web and IoT applications. DreamFactory connects to any data source and automatically generates a complete palette of secure, reusable, customizable REST APIs for modern application developers. Advanced features include scripting and customization, client SDKs, single sign-on, user management, record-level access control, and interactive API docs. By offering a more secure, reliable and scalable RESTful backend for modern applications, DreamFactory makes application development faster and less costly.