"Easy to use, extremely flexible and highly available MQTT broker, allowing us to focus on the application logic and security, not on the connectivity between components."
Head of the IT and electricity department
About Makerspace Darmstadt e.V.
Makerspace Darmstadt e.V. is a non-profit organization in Darmstadt, Germany, supporting approximately 500 members with access to a communal workshop for activities like woodworking, 3D printing, and metalworking. The IT infrastructure, managed by the IT and electricity department, is crucial for supporting training, tutorials, and the health and safety-related systems that govern machine and facility access.
The Project
Makerspace Darmstadt developed a decentralized access control system to manage member entry via RFID tokens and ensure safety by controlling access to complex machinery following required safety training.
The system is a complex, distributed environment requiring stable and secure communication between numerous components:
- Edge Devices: Raspberry Pis and ESP32-based devices.
- Protocol & Security: MQTT with mutual TLS authentication for all communications.
- Centralized Stack: Python services running on a Kubernetes cluster, utilizing HashiCorp Vault for PKI to issue certificates, and integrated monitoring/logging tools (Prometheus/Grafana, OpenSearch).
The Challenge
Before adopting EMQX, the organization ran a smaller version of this system using the open-source Mosquitto broker. While functional, this setup presented critical operational challenges:
- Difficult Troubleshooting: It was impossible to see or query currently connected clients or active subscriptions.
- Operational Risk: In a system relying heavily on mutual TLS across numerous embedded devices, this lack of introspection made troubleshooting extremely difficult, often resulting in complex debugging that could take days.
- System Downtime: These issues frequently led to systems and rooms being unavailable, a major problem for a non-profit reliant on volunteer time.
The organization urgently needed a well-designed, battle-tested solution to ensure the stability and security of this critical infrastructure.
The Solution
Makerspace Darmstadt evaluated several options and ultimately chose EMQX.
Key features that made EMQX the standout choice included:
- Dashboard: Providing quick operational visibility for technical and less tech-savvy users.
- Clustering Support: Essential for achieving High Availability (HA).
- Observability Integration: Built-in Prometheus Metric support, which perfectly integrated with their existing monitoring stack.
- Ease of Deployment: The availability of a Helm chart allowed the team to get the 3-node HA cluster running on their Kubernetes environment in a matter of minutes, with basic configuration completed in about an hour.
The Results
The migration to an HA EMQX cluster delivered immediate, high-value improvements, allowing the volunteer team to shift focus from connectivity issues to core application logic:
- Zero Outages and High Availability: Running EMQX as a 3-node HA cluster has resulted in zero system outages since migration, ensuring continuous reliability for security-critical access and machine control.
- Simplified Operations: The EMQX dashboard and built-in metrics provide unparalleled observability. This operational simplicity has tripled the number of volunteers capable of maintaining the environment.
- Accelerated Innovation: Easier troubleshooting and reduced fear of breaking the environment have led to a drastic increase in the rate of innovation for new projects, such as integrating ESP32-controlled E-Ink displays for a new storage system.
Summary
EMQX provided Makerspace Darmstadt with an easy-to-use, flexible, and highly available MQTT broker that perfectly integrated with their complex, decentralized environment. By delivering enterprise-grade features like clustering, a robust dashboard, and Prometheus observability, EMQX has transformed their operations and greatly reduced maintenance complexity.