August 4, 2022: HILSCHER has recently released the “netFIELD Compact X8M” for mass production, expanding its edge gateway product line to include devices with secure boot.
The edge gateways of the Hilscher netFIELD product line are YOCTO Linux-based modules with a web interface and available for various hardware versions. These gateways are where IT and OT converge, and users have the flexibility to deploy various applications as Docker containers to run on devices. Docker containerization technology is today’s security standard for managing software throughout its lifecycle, especially software related to Industry 4.0, automation and IoT services.
The highlight feature of the Hilscher edge gateway is its pre-installed dual Docker engines, one of which can be manually controlled locally via the console or web interface, while the other can be controlled remotely via the cloud. Using the netfield.io portal, a variety of containers can be used to execute and manage the software rollout process for an entire fleet of devices, providing services such as remote login, operating system software updates, forwarding container data through the cloud, and portal instantiation and OEM customization.
netFIELD Compact X8M is a gateway that provides secure boot, which provides security when switched on, secure boot always ensures the authenticity of the software, especially in unattended operation at remote locations. All Hilscher edge gateways also offer many other functions of the IT security standard IEC-62443, such as password protection, encrypted data transmission, user management, logging and many more.
At the same time, Hilscher also released “netFIELD Extension Linux”, which expands the options for Linux-based devices of the netFIELD service pack.
netFIELD enables users to easily transport IIoT applications to remote devices as Docker application containers, and the netfield.io portal provides centralized management of containers for entire groups of devices. What’s more, the field data aggregated in the device can be prepared from anywhere by means of netfield.io retrieval. Therefore, Hilscher provides a ready-made technical infrastructure for the modern software and data management required by the automation industry today, allowing users to focus on their own containerized application development.
Effective today, the “netFIELD Extension Linux” installer package enables Linux-based systems to be extended and managed remotely with the help of netFIELD, which gives users greater flexibility in choosing target hardware such as Edge Gateways. So far, the service is only available for Hilscher devices.
The extension offers businesses the option to retrofit their mature equipment with IIoT, making them immediately suitable for distributed and remote control software projects in Industry 4.0. Hilscher-independent third-party devices with other performance levels or with enhanced connectivity can also be equipped with the new Linux extension (https://github.com/hilschernetiotedge/netFIELD-extension-linux).
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