Network-enabled devices increase profits over the lifecycle of equipment, enabling companies to make better use of the most important asset afforded by the networked equipment: the data gathered and information gleaned.
But as companies are increasingly integrating “edge” M2M devices into the corporate network, it is important that the tools, technology and architecture used to network those edge devices meet current data center equipment standards. It is also important that they are easy to integrate and built on extensible and open software technologies.
Evolution OS is the next-generation Lantronix Network Operating System for device servers that addresses these needs with open standards, extensible technologies and enterprise-grade networking security.
Cisco-like CLI
Making the edge-to-enterprise vision a reality, Evolution OS NOS uses industry-standard tools for configuration, communication and control. First, it uses Cisco-like command line interface (CLI) with syntax that is very similar to that used by data center equipment such as routers and hubs.
XML-based Architecture and Device Control
A fundamental building block for the future growth of M2M networks, XML is a standard tool for web services, data transfer and rich content management that encapsulates data into a text-based format. XML-based configuration and setup records make the device configuration transparent to users and administrators and easily editable with a standard text or XML editor. (Microsoft®, for example, already incorporates XML capabilities into the Office software suite.)
RSS
RSS is a rapidly emerging technology used to stream and manage on-line content. RSS support enables users to configure the device server to automatically send back real-time device information over the network to a database. More powerful than simple email alerts, RSS uses XML as an underlying transport and adds intelligence to the networked device while not taxing already overloaded email systems. Evolution OS also supports standard SMTP email.
Enterprise-grade Security
Without the need to disable any features or functionality, the hardened Evolution OS provides the highest level of security possible. This ‘data center grade’ protection ensures that each device on the M2M network carries the same level of security as traditional IT networking equipment in the corporate data center.
With built in SSH and SSL, Evolution OS has robust defenses to hostile Internet attacks such as denial of service (DoS) and port mapping that can be used to take down the network. Device servers with this operating system also cannot be used to bring down other devices on the network. SSH includes robust key management algorithms that:
- Verify the data received came from the proper source
- Validate that the data transferred from the source over the network is non-changed when it arrives at its destination (shared secret and hashing)
- Provide ability to run popular M2M protocols over a secure SSH connection
Evolution OS supports a variety of popular cipher technologies including AES, 3DES and RC4 and hashing algorithms such as SHA-1 and MD5. Additionally, SSL ensures secure web-based communications.
