This document discusses key architectural considerations for Internet of Things (IoT) systems. It outlines three main tiers: origin, transport, and analytics. The origin tier includes sensors, devices, and gateways that generate IoT data. Common protocols at this tier are discussed. The transport tier orchestrates data flow and can perform transformations. Apache NiFi and minifi are presented as options. The analytics tier is where insights are derived from the data through streaming and batch processing. Apache Beam is highlighted as a framework that can unify both types of processing. The document also discusses firmware versions, parsers, schemas, and data ownership challenges.