Cosmos DB Connector

Route device telemetry to Azure Cosmos DB for globally distributed, multi-model database storage. Supports document, key-value, and graph data models with single-digit millisecond reads and guaranteed SLA availability.

What is Cosmos DB

Azure Cosmos DB is a globally distributed, multi-model database service designed for mission-critical applications. It provides turnkey global distribution, elastic scaling, and guaranteed low-latency reads and writes anywhere in the world.

Key Features:

Global Distribution: Replicate data to any Azure region for low-latency reads worldwide.

Multi-model: Document (SQL API), Key-value (Table API), Graph (Gremlin), and Column-family (Cassandra).

99.999% Availability: Industry-leading SLA for both read and write operations.

Auto-scaling: Serverless or provisioned throughput that scales with demand.

Change Feed: Real-time event stream of document changes for downstream processing.

How it Works

When the Cosmos DB connector is enabled, /IOTCONNECT™ inserts device telemetry as JSON documents into your Cosmos DB container:

Device sends telemetry → /IOTCONNECT™ ingests and validates the payload.

Document created → Telemetry is formatted as a JSON document with device metadata and partition key.

Written to container → Document is inserted to your Cosmos DB container with configurable consistency level.

Globally replicated → Data is automatically replicated to all configured Azure regions.

User Manual

Step 1: Navigate to Connector Settings

Go to Settings > Configuration > Live Data Streaming in the /IOTCONNECT™ portal.

Step 2: Enable Cosmos DB

Find the Cosmos DB connector card and toggle the switch to ON (green).

Step 3: Select Data Types

Choose which data to route: Telemetry, Faulty, Diagnostics, Command History.

Step 4: Run ARM Template

Click the ARM template link. This deploys to your Azure subscription:

A Cosmos DB account with SQL API

Database and container with optimized partition key (deviceId)

Service Principal with Data Contributor role

TTL policy for automatic document expiration

Step 5: Confirm Subscription ID

Subscription ID auto-populates after deployment completes.

Step 6: Save

Click Save. Telemetry begins flowing to your Cosmos DB container.

Use Cases

Global IoT: Geo-replicate device data for low-latency access from any region worldwide.

Mission-critical: 99.999% uptime SLA for applications that cannot tolerate downtime.

Mixed Workloads: Use SQL API for telemetry queries and Graph API for device relationship mapping.

Real-time Analytics: Change Feed enables real-time event processing as documents arrive.

Multi-tenant SaaS: Partition by tenant for isolated performance in multi-tenant IoT platforms.

ⓘ NOTE

Cosmos DB charges are based on Request Units (RU/s) consumed. Use serverless mode for intermittent IoT workloads. Enable TTL on documents to automatically expire old telemetry and control costs.