data.sparkfun.com
a place
to push
your data.

Why are you building this?

We want to bring a dose of reality to the Internet of Things hype. data.sparkfun.com is a free, robust service for use with all of your projects. The underlying engine is open source so if you don't want to use our servers you can install phant on the server of your choice.

Wait, this is totally free? What's the catch?

Yep. There are limits, but we wanted to give our users a good, free place to store data and give data scientists more fun things to analyze. Our hope is that you buy a SparkFun widget to connect your next beehive.

How do I use it?

We thought data storage should be as easy as string concatenation. First, create a stream and you'll receive a public url and a private key. Then, using the hardware of your choice (Ethernet shield, RasPi, BBB, Electric Imp, WiFly) simply create a string with the data you want to post. Here's a simple example:

http://data.sparkfun.com/input/Jxyjr7DmxwTD5dG1D1Kv?private_key=gzgnB4VazkIg7GN1g1qA&brewTemp=33.4

Go ahead and try it! Paste the string above into a browser window and hit return. You should see a confirmation message. Then view the results on the the public stream. Congrats! You just added some data to the internet.

What types of projects would benefit from this service?

Almost anything. Your weather station in the backyard. A classroom of kids working on science experiments. A community concerned with pollution and crowdsourcing data collection. The weight of your pug's food dish. You get the idea. If your project can send an http request, you can push data out to our servers.

How much data can I push?

Each stream has a maximum of 50mb. After you hit the limit, the oldest data will be erased. (These limitations can be removed if installed on your own server). Logging is limited to 100 pushes in a 15 minute window. This allows you to push data in bursts, or spread them out over the 15 minute window.

Can I publish a stream anonymously?

Yes. But all streams are public and can be accessed by anyone with the url.

How can I give feedback about this project?

Send us an email: data@sparkfun.com

Is my data safe?

We are still hacking on the core functionality, so there is a slight possibility of data loss. After our official launch, we will have clear parameters for how long the data will remain on our servers.

Gimme the code!

The code and documentation can be found on GitHub. Please let us know if you run into any issues.

Want to play around? If you’re familiar with Node.js, try:

$ npm install -g phant

Start the server:

$ phant

Connect to the telnet manager:

$ telnet localhost 8081