Whether it's a hobby project or a business application, just about anyone trying to experiment with IoT projects has come across Node-RED. This is because Node-RED is easy to use, has extensive community support, and is offered for free.

At first glance, some similarities between the Crosser Edge Intelligence solution and Node-RED are noticeable. In this blog post, we have tried to outline the similarities between Crosser's Edge Intelligence solution for Industrial IoT and Node-RED, the key differences, and the aspects in which Crosser excels.

Edge computing - Modular Drag and Drop

Both Node-RED and Crosser have adopted a module-based approach in which predefined modules are graphically linked to determine the order of operations to be performed on the data. This is a proven method used in many business automation tools as well as data analytics/signal processing tools, allowing even non-programmers to define processes or algorithms.

For industrial IoT applications, you will need modules to retrieve data from your machines using common industrial protocols such as OPC, Modbus, Profinet, MQTT, and HTTP. When applying Edge Stream Analytics, you want to transmit results to other systems or services, so you'll need modules that can send data to different cloud providers, on-premises systems, or machines.

Finally, you will need processing modules (data cleaning, normalization, filters, conditions, algorithms...) that can process your data to achieve the desired result. Both Node-Red and Crosser offer these capabilities. Therefore, at first glance, the two tools may seem similar, but there are some significant differences on the products under the hood.

Computing Platform

First, Node-RED is written in Javascript running on the NodeJS platform, while Crosser Edge is written in C# running on the .NET kernel. This results in the following main differences:

1. Performance - Crosser Edge can process significantly more data on the same hardware platform. A 10x performance difference can occur depending on the actual number and use case.

2. Dynamic Loading of Analytical Modules and Connectors - Users can easily add new modules to the central library without having to update native software and then use them with any node.

3. Multi-Language Support - Crosser offers the freedom to choose different languages when using custom code modules such as C#, Python and Javascript*.

4. Machine Learning - Crosser is the perfect platform to run your machine learning models end-to-end. In a standard Python environment, you can host models built with any of the common machine learning libraries for Python. In addition, the Crosser Cloud service manages your model files and automatically distributes them to the end nodes that are needed.

Module Libraries

One of the most important advantages of Node-Red is its extensive module library. Almost everything you want to do is already available as a module and is easily accessible through the integrated repository. However, most of these modules are provided by the open source community, and this presents some challenges as well.

The Node-red library has multiple alternatives that you can select for a specific feature in most cases. But which one should you use? What is the status of these alternatives, have they been tested in production environments and are they still supported? It is impossible to know the answers to these questions.

Crosser provides a very large library of modules covering all common use cases for industrial IoT applications. These modules are built with a consistent messaging model and user interface, are production-ready and fully supported. This greatly simplifies the use and minimizes the risk. Modules can also be used by third parties under similar circumstances, and it is also possible to create your own modules using our code modules or the open SDK.

When Flows are deployed, modules are dynamically loaded into the overall runtime (Crosser). This greatly simplifies the maintenance and continuous improvement of deployed use cases without having to update the locally installed software.

Remote Testing

A node must be tested before it can be deployed to multiple flows in production. With Crosser, you can verify your nodes step by step by checking the data as you go through each module. You can plot sensor data with image or time series graphic viewers as messages are processed. You can test your nodes in a secure virtual environment offered as part of the cloud service, or connect your flow editor to any node you have deployed in the field with real data that can be accessed from your distributed network.

After Flow is validated in the development environment, it can be deployed to production from within the same user interface. If Flow is developed for multiple deployments, the user can deploy flow to several different production environments at the same time with different settings/parameters.

In a single runtime, multiple Flows

Another difference between Crosser and Node-RED is the ability of Crosser to execute many different flows on the same node (runtime setup). Existing flows can be updated and new flows can be added without affecting other flows running on the same node. If a flow fails for any reason, all other flows on that node will continue to work.

Node-red offers the ability to run a flow with only subflows in each deployment. If one of these flows fails, the entire node will stop working and all flows will be affected.

Crosser Cloud

Crosser The cloud service is used to manage your nodes. This is where you create flows using the Flow Studio visual design tool and then use the End Router to decide which flow should run on each end node.

Edge Director is designed to simplify whole lifecycle management, from deploying new nodes to deploying new or updated flows and monitoring the operation of all end nodes. All operations can be easily performed on a single node or a group of nodes.

Edge Director capabilities combined with Flow Studio functions combine proof-of-concept (POC) stages with the production phase in a single environment. This allows you to remove a few challenging steps in the commissioning phase of your IoT project.

Crosser Cloud is a pure management and configuration service. As soon as a flow is deployed with a node, it runs autonomously without the need for any connection to the cloud. The results of data processing at an end node are sent to the location specified by the flows.

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