Link IoT Edge allows you to resume data transmission from a breakpoint. If the local network is disconnected or no response is returned within 15 seconds after data is uploaded to Alibaba Cloud, the data is persisted on premises. After the network connection recovers, historical data will be uploaded again. To resume data transmission from a breakpoint, you must configure a message route in IoT Platform. You can also customize the persistence settings at the edge.

Configure message routes in IoT Platform

Messages at the edge have multiple sources, such as devices, and Function Compute. Link IoT Edge supports configuring an exclusive message route for each message source. If you want to persist messages from a specified source on premises and enable message transmission resumption in case of network interruptions, you must configure a message route. When you configure a message route, you must set the Message Destination parameter to IoT Hub and the Service Level parameter to 1 (QoS = level 1).

This topic describes how to resume data transmission from a breakpoint based on the steps that are specified in the Sample drivers topic.

  1. Perform the steps that are specified in the Sample drivers topic.
  2. Assign a message route to the created edge instance. For more information about how to configure a message route, see Configure message routing.
    Note When configuring the parameters of the message route, you must set the Message Destination parameter to IoT Hub and the Service Level parameter to 1.
    Configure message routes
  3. On the Instance Details page, click Deploy in the upper-right corner to redeploy the edge instance.

Persistence settings at the edge

The following three configuration items are included: the file storage path, the number of nodes, and the node storage space.

Note Maximum size of persistent files = Number of nodes that store persistence files × Node size.

If the size of persistent files exceeds the limit, the earliest data node is deleted.

You can use the following default configurations.

Configuration item Default value
File storage path

gw_history_record_storage_path

 /linkedge/run/history_record
Maximum number of nodes

gw_history_record_node_num

 10
Maximum storage space of a node

gw_history_record_node_size

 104857600 (100 MB)

You can also use the following operations to customize configurations.

Operation Description
Retrieve the file storage path
  • Command: /linkedge/gateway/build/bin/tool_config -g gw_history_record_storage_path
  • Return values:
    • Set config success. /linkedge/storage indicates that the operation was successful. The file storage path is /linkedge/storage.
    • Get config fail, code:100100 indicates that the persistent storage path is not configured. The following default path is used: /linkedge/run/history_record.
Configure the file storage path
  • Command: /linkedge/gateway/build/bin/tool_config -s gw_history_record_storage_path $storage_path
  • Return values:
    • Set config success indicates that the operation was successful.
    • Get config fail, code:100100 indicates that the operation failed. Check the status of the Link IoT Edge service.

      Link IoT Edge does not impose limits on the actual storage path. If the current user is not authorized to read or write the directory, exceptions occur on the message-router.

Retrieve the number of nodes
  • Command: /linkedge/gateway/build/bin/tool_config -g gw_history_record_node_num
  • Return values:
    • Set config success. 20 indicates that the operation was successful. The number of nodes is 20.
    • Get config fail, code:100100 indicates that the number of nodes is not configured. The default value 10 is used.
Configure the number of nodes
  • Command: /linkedge/gateway/build/bin/tool_config -s gw_history_record_node_num $number_of_nodes
  • Return values:
    • Set config success indicates that the operation was successful.
    • Get config fail, code:100100 indicates that the operation failed. Check the status of the Link IoT Edge service.

      You can specify a value from 1 to INT_MAX for the number of nodes. If the number of nodes exceeds the limit, the following error log entry is printed: the node num must be between 1 and INT32_MAX.

Retrieve the maximum storage space of a node
  • Command: /linkedge/gateway/build/bin/tool_config -g gw_history_record_node_size
  • Return values:
    • Set config success. 10485760 indicates that the operation was successful. The maximum storage space of the node is 10485760 (10 MB).
    • Get config fail, code:100100 indicates that the maximum storage space of the node is not configured. The default value 104857600 (100 MB) is used.
Configure the maximum storage space of a node
  • Command: /linkedge/gateway/build/bin/tool_config -s gw_history_record_node_size $maximum_storage_space_of_a_node
  • Return values:
    • Set config success indicates that the operation was successful.
    • Get config fail, code:100100 indicates that the operation failed. Check the status of the Link IoT Edge service.

      You can specify a value from 1 to LONGLONG_MAX for the maximum storage space of a node. If a specified value exceeds the limit, the following error log entry is printed: the node size must be between 1 and INT64_MAX.

Verify the feature of data transmission resumption

The following example uses the LightSensor device that is created in the Sample drivers topic to verify the feature of data transmission resumption.

For the message route that is assigned to the edge instance, the Message Destination and Service Level parameters have been set to IoT Hub and 1, respectively. For the persistent settings at the edge, use the default values.

  1. View storage space occupied by historical data.
    View storage space occupied by persistent files. The occupied storage space may be larger than the size of the persistent files due to data structure.
    Note A non-zero size of the persistent file directory (! = 0) does not guarantee that historical data exist. 
    #du /linkedge/run/history_record/ -d 0 -h
28.0K /linkedge/run/history_record/
  2. Simulate network exceptions.
    Unplug the network cable and run the following command after several seconds. The storage space occupied by the persistent file directory continues to increase. 
    #du /linkedge/run/history_record/ -d 0 -h
28.0K /linkedge/run/history_record/

#du /linkedge/run/history_record/ -d 0 -h
56.0K /linkedge/run/history_record/

#du /linkedge/run/history_record/ -d 0 -h
92.0K /linkedge/run/history_record/
  3. Restore the network connection.
    Plug in the network cable. After the network connection is restored, log on to the IoT Platform console to view the status of the LightSensor device. Check whether data is lost during the network disconnection period.
    1. Log on to the IoT Platform console.
    2. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Link IoT Edge > Edge Instances.
    3. Find the required edge instance and click View. In this example, the LinkIoTEdge_Node instance is specified.
    4. Select Devices & Drivers. Select the required driver. Find the required device and click View to view the status of the device. In this example, the LightSensor device is specified.View devices
    5. On the Device Details page, select Status. Turn on the Real-time Refresh switch to view the latest data that the device has submitted.Real-time Refresh
    6. Click View Data next to a metric name to view historical data. You can use timestamps to check whether data exists during the network disconnection period.
      In this example, the data generated during the network disconnection period has been uploaded to Alibaba Cloud.View data

FAQ

  • Will disk I/O performance be affected during data transmission resumption?

    Yes. If a network disconnection occurs, Link IoT Edge persists data to be uploaded on premises. Disk I/O performance is affected based on the data size.

  • Why historical data has not been submitted to IoT Platform after the network connection is restored?

    The maximum number of records that can be submitted per second is 10. If a large amount of historical data needs to be submitted, the data transmission process is time-consuming.

  • How can I customize the storage path and maximum size of persistent files?

    For information about how to customize the storage path and maximum size of persistent files, see Persistence settings at the edge in this topic.

  • Will new data be saved if the size of persistent files reaches the limit during a network disconnection period?

    Yes. If the size of persistent files reaches the limit, the earliest data is deleted.

  • How do I view the logs for data transmission resumption?
    You can run the following commands to view the logs:
    • cd /linkedge/run/logger/message-router/
    • tail -f log.INFO