Blog
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MQTT vs Kafka: Complete Comparison Guide 2026
Building IoT systems means making hard choices about how messages flow through your infrastructure. Apache Kafka and MQTT couldn't be more different in their approaches. MQTT came from the world of sensors and resource-constrained devices. Kafka was designed to push massive data streams between backend systems. Getting this choice right early determines whether your architecture scales smoothly or hits a wall.
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Node-RED Buffer Parser Guide: Decode Modbus and Industrial Device Data
Learn how to parse Modbus and industrial device buffers in Node-RED using the Buffer Parser node. Visual configuration, no coding required. Handle endianness and scaling easily. -
Building a Weather Dashboard in Node-RED
Learn how to build a real-time weather dashboard in Node-RED using the OpenWeather API and FlowFuse Dashboard. -
How to Read S7-1200/1500 Optimized Data Blocks
Learn how to read Siemens S7-1200/1500 optimized data blocks using OPC UA and FlowFuse. Step-by-step guide with symbolic addressing for reliable PLC integration. -
How to Optimize Industrial Data Communication with Protocol Buffers
Stop transmitting waste. Learn how Protocol Buffers reduces industrial IoT data size by 60% using FlowFuse. Implementation takes one afternoon with three nodes and a schema file—no coding required. -
How to Protect Your Factory From Bad Data: A Must-Have Read for IIoT
Build a bulletproof data validation gateway that catches corrupted sensor readings, malformed MQTT payloads, and drifting PLC data before they wreak havoc on your factory floor. -
Store-and-Forward at the Edge: Buffering Production Data During Network Outages
Learn how to implement store-and-forward buffering for data collection. This guide shows you how to build an edge system with FlowFuse that maintains complete data continuity during network outages, preventing production data loss and compliance gaps. -
FlowFuse 2.24: FlowFuse Expert in the Node-RED Editor, Scheduled Updates, Simpler Edge Device Addition, Store and Forward Blueprint, and what's next!
FlowFuse 2.24: FlowFuse Expert in the Node-RED Editor, Scheduled Updates, Simpler Edge Device Addition, Store and Forward Blueprint, and what's next! -
Building a Web HMI for Factory Equipment Control
Build a modern HMI using FlowFuse to monitor and control factory equipment from any browser -
FlowFuse + LLM + MCP = Text Driven Operations
Discover how FlowFuse combines LLMs and Model Context Protocol (MCP) with Node-RED to enable text-driven operations, transforming industrial data into actionable insights through natural language queries. -
Building a Label Scanner with FlowFuse for Product Labels & Serial Numbers
Step-by-step guide to building an OCR system in FlowFuse for scanning product labels, extracting text, and validating serial numbers using Node-RED flows. -
How to Ingest CSV Logs into MQTT, Databases, and Dashboards
Learn how to ingest CSV logs from PLCs and SCADA systems into MQTT brokers, databases, and dashboards. Build real-time and batch processing pipelines with Node-RED and FlowFuse. -
The Industrial IoT Market Shift: What the PTC Divestment Means for Your Data Strategy
PTC's $600M divestment of Kepware and ThingWorx to TPG raises critical questions for industrial organizations. Learn what this means for your data strategy and why open-source alternatives like FlowFuse offer a path forward. -
How to Connect Any PLC to MQTT in Under an Hour
Learn how to extract data from Siemens, Allen-Bradley, Omron, Mitsubishi, OPC UA, and Modbus, transform it, and publish to MQTT using FlowFuse—without expensive gateways or consultants. -
FlowFuse 2.23: MCP and ONNX nodes, FlowFuse AI Expert on the homepage, Application-level Permission Control, FlowFuse Assistant for Self-Hosted, and more!
MCP and ONNX nodes, FlowFuse AI Expert on the homepage, Application-level Permission Control, FlowFuse Assistant for Self-Hosted, and more! -
How to Log PLC Data to CSV Files
Learn how to reliably log PLC data to CSV files using FlowFuse, handling connection drops, file corruption, and timestamp drift. -
Introducing FlowFuse Expert
Meet FlowFuse Expert that gives you a clear recipe to build Node-RED flows, step by step. -
Building MCP Servers for AI Agent Integration in Node-RED with FlowFuse
Learn how to build a fully functional MCP server in Node-RED with FlowFuse, enabling AI agents like Claude, Gemini, and GPT to access data, perform actions, and streamline industrial operations using a low-code approach. -
MCP and Custom AI Models on FlowFuse!
Create your own AI agents and deploy trained models in Node-RED