Protocols
A natural question is, why are there any protocols outside of HTTP to transport data across the WAN? HTTP has provided significant services and abilities for the Internet for over 20 years yet was designed and architected for general purpose computing in client/server models.
IoT devices can be very constrained, remote, and bandwidth limited. Therefore, more efficient, secure, and scalable protocols are necessary to manage a plethora of devices in various network topologies such as mesh networks.
That said, HTTP is used and has a purpose in IoT and edge systems. While HTTP is not efficient across a network, HTTP2 and HTTP3 protocols are relatively efficient. Additionally, security through TLS is natural and common in HTTP sessions. Finally, HTTP is everywhere and routinely used in an assortment of communication and RESTful APIs.
In transporting data to the Internet, designs are relegated to the TCP/IP foundation layers. TCP and UDP protocols are...