Kontron KISS 4U KTC-5520 Transportation — a powerful passenger infotainment server

Passenger infotainment applications such as video on demand (VoD) are enhanced by the high simultaneous data processing capacity of Kontron's KISS 4U KTC-5520 Transportation server. Fitted with up to eight processor cores and 16 threads, it is able to distribute several hundred HD-quality video streams. A high performance density also makes the Kontron KISS 4U KTC-5520 Transportation ideal for consolidating applications that were previously deployed at separate locations. For example, passenger information, digital signage or internet-on-train, can now be consolidated in a single server system to save space and costs. With its sturdiness and low noise emission, Kontron's whisper-quiet KISS 4U KTC-5520 Transportation server is equally suited to the demands of other mobile applications such as outside broadcasting vans, roadshow trucks and mobile video observation.

With long-term availability, plus an MTBF of 50,000 hours, the Kontron KISS 4U KTC-5520 Transportation assures high reliability and it has been through all the procedures required for railroad certification. EN 60068 tests, for example, focus on service readiness at high and low temperatures in addition to resistance to shock and vibration through repeated bumping and dropping. Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) and sensitivity (EMS) were also extensively tested and certified to EN 50155 and EN 50121. System integrators get a platform that is ready for applications without having to obtain any extra certification, saving time-to-market and reducing overall costs.

Remote management - any place and any time
The Kontron KISS 4U KTC-5520 Transportation also gives operators extra value as it comes with full remote-management functionality. An integrated management processor (IMP) supports VGA/2D, BMC and KVM/VM over IP (iKVM) to enable real-time virtualization of the keyboard, monitor and mouse (KVM) plus virtual media from any external PC, no matter where or when. With an intelligent platform-management interface known as IPMI over LAN, which complies with IPMI 2.0, the server board also offers an interface independent of operating systems and platforms, which may be used to monitor system temperature, voltage and fan status. And the integrated out-of-band management allows the system administrator access anytime, regardless of whether the system is turned on or not. In addition to which there are three hot-swap chassis fans accessible from the front to simplify system maintenance.

The features in detail
The Kontron KISS 4U KTC-5520 Transportation comes with either one or two Intel Xeon processors from the 5500 or 5600 series and up to 48 GB of DDR3 ECC-registered SDRAM per processor. There are various possibilities for expansion through one PCI Express x16 (PEG) (configurable as one PCI Express x8), three PCIe 2.0 x8, one PCIe x4 (on the x8 slot) and one PCI. In addition, there are interfaces for two Gigabit Ethernet connections, six USB 2.0 (two on the front) and one COM (RS232).

For its data memory, the Kontron KISS 4U KTC-5520 Transportation integrates a shockproof seated 500 GB hard disk plus the KISS-Stor 0/5 subsystem with three more SATA hard disks, maximum capacity up to 1.5 terabytes and data throughput up to 150 MB/s. The alternative RAID level 5 configuration with three hard disks offers extra data security. Graphics-intensive applications benefit from the serial digital video interface for DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort on the PCI Express x16 slot, optionally with a 256 MB GeForce 8500GT. 7.1 HD audio, two redundant 500 W power supplies and PS/2 ports for a mouse and keyboard round out the feature set.

The Kontron KISS 4U KTC-5520 Transportation is CE-certified and UL-qualified. It supports Red Hat Linux as well as Windows Server 2008, is available straight from stock as a standard system, or can be custom configured and delivered as a thoroughly tested and independently certified solution. It is available now in the EMEA and will be available in North America and APAC in 3Q/2011.