The AWS Simple Beer Service team came in and gave tips on how to scale IoT data streams and design hardware for maximum reliability.

• log all device registers, so that big data analytics can be performed later in the cloud

• ack-back to acknowledge commands sent to the device

• structure s3 config/command files so that it’s sorted by location/area/type/customer/etc
  • e.g. /:location/:type/:MAC
• anti-pattern: push firmware updates remotely
  • problem: if you kill it, it’s dead, nobody’s around to fix it
  • use staged rollouts, careful exception management
  • have a fallback mode that is unbreakable
• bootstrapped device setup
  • beer dispenser boots up with wifi in AP mode, then you can connect to it with any device to config new SSID/password/etc, then it restarts into normal mode

More info http://aws.amazon.com/iot/

Hello World!