InfluxData is a platform for collecting, storing, visualizing, and managing time-series data, which has applications beyond IoT and sensors, such as tracking temperature every 5 minutes at various locations. Building an InfluxDB solution from scratch can be complex, but platforms like InfluxData offer pre-built solutions with features like storing time-series data, collection/integration mechanisms, standard dashboards, alerts, and more. The TICK stack includes modules for building IoT projects with Arduino/Python, which will be explored in Part 2 of this tutorial series. To get started, create a project on Google Cloud Platform, provision a virtual machine, install InfluxDB, start the server, and validate its installation by creating a database, inserting data, querying records, and accessing the admin interface from outside. Firewalls must also be configured to allow access to the admin web app and API from outside the Compute Engine network.