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I had the privilege of interviewing Stephane Duburre, our Product Manager, who shared fascinating insights on the critical role of communications and connectivity in our interconnected world. He explains how real-time communication between devices within the Internet of Things (IoT) is crucial for automation, monitoring and control without human intervention.
During our conversation, Stephane discusses Kontron's unique platforms, unveiling the new CG2500 rugged Edge server—an exceptionally versatile solution designed to support various industries in their journey towards a more connected future.
1. Seeing that your primary focus is Communications and Connectivity, why is this area so important?
Stephane: In today's interconnected world, communications are essential for so many reasons. The most obvious is, they facilitate the instantaneous exchange of information, allowing people to share ideas and organizations to collaborate. This real-time communication is vital for businesses to stay competitive, for governments to respond quickly to crises, and for people to maintain personal connections despite being physically far from one another.
Communication between objects
Stephane: What we don’t always think about is the communication between objects. Just like people, devices need to be able to talk to one another via a network. This is essentially what we call The Internet of Things (IoT) which consists of a network of interconnected devices that exchange data back and forth. These devices, which can include anything from household appliances to industrial machines, are equipped with sensors, software, and other technologies that enable connectivity, automation, monitoring, and greater control without requiring a human to ensure smooth operation.
2. Can you elaborate on Kontron in Communications and why your platforms are unique?
Stephane: In short, we aim to enhance the processing, storage, and transmission of data between the devices and their networks. Our servers facilitate communication, ensuring that IoT devices can reliably exchange critical information. This improves the overall performance and scalability of IoT networks, supports real-time analytics, and speeds up decision-making in industries such as the ones mentioned above, that can’t afford any hiccups or downtime.
Kontron in Communications
Stephane: We at Kontron have been doing networking and computing for a long time. In addition, we specialize in developing platforms that support our customers’ long term objectives. We don’t want them to have to change the infrastructure they have in place to accommodate our system. And we certainly don’t want them to have to replace our system in 1 or 2 years’ time in order to keep up with advancements in technology. We want them to be able to maximize their investment with long-life platforms that last at least 7 to 10 years, and that have been carefully designed with the latest components that virtualize many functions.
3. What does all of this help customers achieve?
Stephane: It helps them evolve to reach the highest level of flexibility to grow as their IoT deployments grow. In fact, finding a flexible, rugged, yet sophisticated edge server like this in the market is rare.
4. Can you describe a specific product that does this?
Stephane: Absolutely. Our latest CG2500 rackmount, rugged Edge server. What makes it so special is its versatility. As the demand for data increases and new technologies emerge, the CG2500 can be easily upgraded with more processing power or storage capacity, supporting the latest protocols and applications without replacing the entire infrastructure. With this modularity, operators can integrate new technologies seamlessly, ensuring long-term investment protection and reducing operational disruptions.
5. What you are trying to resolve in the marketplace with the CG2500?
Stephane: Firstly, there are many different enterprises that manage vast amounts of data generated by IoT devices. To name a few:
Manufacturers: use IoT devices for monitoring potential equipment failures and optimizing production processes.
Hospitals and clinics: will need IoT devices in order to surveil the progress of their patients.
Defense and military teams: need IoT technology to enhance the effectiveness and safety of their military operations.
Stephane: The challenges they each face involve leveraging reliable systems that have enough processing power to analyze all of that data, yet don’t fail and also last a long time. These systems need to be constructed to withstand the harsh environments that come with those specific industries, yet should be small and flexible enough to integrate to their current infrastructures.
How Kontron’s CG2500 can help
Stephane: Communication system failures in defense for example, can compromise mission-critical operations, or endanger personnel. The CG2500 platform is helping them mitigate these risks with a customizable, modular, edge solution that is designed with high availability in mind. It brings applications closer to data sources, right to the network edge, ensuring continuous operation even in the most demanding scenarios.
6. How is the CG2500 able to accomplish that?
Stephane: By carefully selecting components within the system that are available a long time. This enables our customers to develop, analyze, test and deploy without having to worry about replacing the platform 1 or 2 years later. Our customers appreciate this because it maximizes the value of their investment.
These customers need solutions that are designed for 24/7 operations which is where the CG2500 shines. What’s more, it has a Meantime Before Failure (MTBF) rate of 100,000 which means this server typically lasts an average of 100,000 hours before encountering any issues. That translates to roughly 10 years of operation!
Intelligent flexibility for ISVs
Stephane: The CG2500 embodies what we call "intelligent flexibility." We have developed a server capable of integrating various functions within a single unit, enhancing its performance. This flexibility allows independent software vendors (ISVs) to optimize their application development and core software components seamlessly across different platforms. By making only a few adjustments and adding new elements as needed, ISVs can maximize their investment, improve accessibility, and significantly reduce their total cost of ownership (TCO).
For more information on the new CG2500 and how it can help you deploy mission-critical edge applications in harsh environments, reach out to Stephane at telecomedia@kontron.com
About Stephane
Stephane Duburre is responsible for leading the development of Kontron’s Communications and Connectivity product line based out of Montreal, Canada. His deep technical knowledge and passion for customer wants and needs developed over the last 25 years, has led him to become the liaison between product, sales and design teams. Stephane attended ETS in Electrical Engineering in downtown Montreal.
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