iBMC cuts system downtime for remote IoT edge management

2nd September 2021

Mick Elliott

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Advantech has introduced its new out-of-band edge management solution – an intelligent board management controller known as an iBMC.

The company developed its iBMC to simplify the management of remote systems and edge devices.

iBMCs are embedded hardware-based technology that allows administrators to conduct power management tasks (power on/off, force shutdown, and system reboot) remotely even in abnormal or out-of-range conditions, such as during a software failure or operating system (OS) crash.

This is known as out-of-band power management and it provides a secondary communication channel for accessing and controlling equipment within an infrastructure network.

For industrial applications such as continuous manufacturing and AI-based edge computing, system interruptions or failures can cause lengthy downtime, leading to significant losses in productivity.

In most circumstances, simply restarting the device can restore system functionality. However, for devices deployed in the field or at the edge, this can cause delays if technicians need to manually restart devices onsite.

By enabling corrective action through remote out-of-band power management, Advantech’s iBMC not only eliminates onsite maintenance, but also reduces system downtime and operational costs.

IoT infrastructure typically involves hundreds of devices deployed at numerous geographically dispersed sites. Advantech’s WISE-DeviceOn software platform is designed for remote management of multiple interconnected industrial IoT devices.

With the integration of iBMC technology, the WISE-DeviceOn solution can serve as both an in-band and out-of-band management system that enables comprehensive access, configuration, monitoring, analysis, and control of all IoT network assets from a single centralized platform.

This, says Advantech, drastically simplifies the management of remote servers, systems, and peripherals for a wide range of industrial applications.

The iBMC is compatible with many of Advantech’s IPC offerings, including the UNO-348/148 control cabinet PCs and TPC-B610 box PCs, as well as the AIMB-787 motherboard, ACP-4340 4U rackmount system (with AIMB-787), and MIC-770 V2 fanless modular IPC depending on BIOS version.

iBMC technology will be supported by many of Advantech’s soon-to-be-released IPCs featuring 10th gen Intel Core i3/i5/i7/i9, as well as Pentium/Celeron CPUs.

Advantech’s iBMC out-of-band management solution is available now.