MQTT brokers

An MQTT broker is a server-side software component that implements the MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport) protocol, acting as a central hub for message distribution. It receives messages published by MQTT clients, filters them by topic, and forwards them to all subscribed clients,…

Key facts

First appeared
1999
Category
technology
Problem solved
MQTT brokers address the challenge of providing reliable, lightweight, and bandwidth-efficient messaging for remote devices over unreliable, high-latency, or low-bandwidth networks. They enable asynchronous, publish-subscribe communication vital for the Internet of Things (IoT), where devices often have limited resources and intermittent connectivity.
Platforms
Linux (various distributions), Embedded Linux (for edge brokers), Cloud computing environments (Docker, Kubernetes), Windows Server, macOS

Related technologies

Notable users

  • Bosch
  • IBM (internal systems, IoT services)
  • Amazon Web Services (AWS IoT Core)
  • Google Cloud Platform (Google Cloud IoT Core - legacy, now part of Google Cloud Pub/Sub)
  • Various automotive manufacturers (e.g., BMW, Audi)
  • SAP
  • Microsoft Azure (Azure IoT Hub)
  • Siemens
  • Smart home device manufacturers