Have you ever found yourself rushing onsite to reboot a crashed device, wasting valuable time and productivity? Or felt overwhelmed by the setup and maintenance required when deploying hundreds of edge devices? These “pain points” in industrial environments now have a smart solution! Today, let’s take an in-depth look at Advantech’s latest experimental breakthrough—iBMC Intelligent Edge Solution, a secret weapon that makes edge device management both simple and powerful.
What is iBMC? Here’s the Simple Explanation #
iBMC (Intelligent Board Management Controller) is an embedded management controller independently developed by Advantech, purpose-built for industrial and edge devices. Its standout feature is the ability to “remotely manage devices at any time, regardless of system crashes”—even if the operating system fails or software malfunctions, engineers can still remotely power on/off, reboot, or force shutdown devices. This eliminates the need for onsite visits and minimizes downtime.
Application Scenarios: Continuous manufacturing lines, AI edge computing, widely distributed unmanned sites… As long as your industrial application is spread out and difficult to maintain, iBMC is ready to shine!
Technical Principles Unveiled: Automated Management Made Easy #
The biggest challenge in traditional device management is that as scale increases, deployment, configuration, and maintenance become more complex and time-consuming. iBMC innovates by combining “Out-of-Band (OOB) Management” with the “DeviceOn Software Platform” to achieve automated management across platforms and operating systems.
- OOB Management: In simple terms, this means managing devices through a dedicated hardware channel, unaffected by the state of the operating system.
- MQTT Auto Connection: iBMC automatically connects to the DeviceOn server via the MQTT protocol, with zero manual configuration required.
- DeviceOn Agent: Once this agent is installed, devices can automatically communicate with iBMC, streamlining onboarding and management.
With this design, large-scale deployment becomes hassle-free—just install the hardware, and let iBMC and DeviceOn handle the rest automatically!
Supported Hardware at a Glance—Find What You Need Fast #
Curious which Advantech products support iBMC? We’ve compiled a comprehensive list: View iBMC Supported Hardware
Step-by-Step Experiment Record: Three Steps to Smart Device Upgrades #
- Confirm Hardware Support: As long as your Advantech hardware supports iBMC and the relevant functions are enabled in the BIOS, you’re ready for the next step.
- Install DeviceOn Agent: Download and install the DeviceOn agent to establish an automatic communication bridge between your device and iBMC.
- Device Onboarding: Once you see the iBMC icon light up (as shown below), your device has successfully activated the iBMC intelligent management interface!
Sneak Peek: Highlight Features from the Experiment #
1. Remote Power Management #
No matter how widely distributed your devices are, you can power on/off, force shutdown, or reboot remotely with a single click—greatly reducing onsite maintenance needs. For system management across regions or unmanned sites, this is an efficiency powerhouse!
2. Port 80 Status Monitoring #
No more guesswork when devices hang during boot! The iBMC interface displays Port 80 status in real time, letting you track each POST code precisely. This helps engineers quickly locate problems and accelerate troubleshooting.
3. Custom Boot Sequence #
Want your device to boot from a specific device next time? iBMC lets you easily adjust the boot sequence remotely—perfect for installing new systems or testing, all in a convenient and intuitive way.
4. Hardware-level One-second Restore (Coresnapshot 2) #
This is the most impressive innovation from the experiment! Integrating Apacer technology, a single click restores the system to its default state in just one second. Whether facing a virus attack or system anomaly, you can recover operations instantly, ensuring uninterrupted critical applications.
Industry Value Brought by Innovative Achievements #
- Reduce Labor Costs: Remote maintenance eliminates the need for onsite dispatch, significantly lowering maintenance expenses.
- Effortless Large-scale Deployment: Automated connection and configuration make rapid expansion to hundreds or thousands of devices a breeze.
- Minimize Downtime: Whatever the anomaly, instant recovery and remote handling keep production lines running without interruption.
- Versatile Application Flexibility: Seamlessly integrates across smart manufacturing, AI edge computing, unmanned retail, smart city monitoring, and more.
Conclusion & Future Outlook: Continual Innovation for Smarter Device Management #
The Advantech team remains committed to “innovation and reliability” as the core of R&D, continuously optimizing iBMC technology and the DeviceOn platform. Looking ahead, we will keep expanding supported hardware and features, driving more smart management applications to make your digital transformation journey smoother and more efficient!
Device management is now within reach. Want to experience the intelligence of iBMC? Learn more now and join us in opening a new chapter in edge computing!