The Innodisk InnoAGE SSD with Azure Sphere won the Golden Award in the Computex 2021 Best Choice Awards, a recognition as the world’s first flash storage product designed for AIoT (Artificial Intelligence of Things) architecture. This solution enables multifunctional management: smart data analysis and updates, data security, and remote control through the cloud, while benefitting from the power of the Azure Sphere to guarantee secured communications.
The InnoAGE SSD solves the conflict of management versus function in applications for which compute resources are vital and security is required. Let’s consider a large-scale example: the datacenters and compute infrastructure that comprise some of the world’s most intelligent systems are—ironically—difficult to manage with the very same cloud and AI benefits these systems provide. If we look at the same conflict in IoT deployments, it’s even more difficult to manage the compute resources distributed around the world in connected edge machines, devices, and experiences. Directly instrumenting these edge applications either diminishes their flexibility or takes precious resources away from their primary tasks. Out-of-band management can allow hardware components to be monitored independent from their function, however this process and the data it produces are critically sensitive, making it difficult to add value without compromising security or trapping data on-premises.
To address this, each InnoAGE SSD can provide wired and even wireless out-of-band management in industrial applications in a manner that is secured at every device by Azure Sphere’s hardware root of trust and managed identity; enabling secure, confidential transmission of telemetry to the cloud with hardened end-to-end encryption. With an InnoAGE SSD, compute infrastructure from datacenters to IoT devices in the field can now be connected to cloud-based AI for health and performance monitoring in a trusted, confidential, and secure manner. This innovation provides the best of out-of-band management not just to compute infrastructure, but to any device that can be fielded with an SSD.
The InnoAGE SSD enables management of the SSD via smart data analysis and updates while benefitting from the security of Azure Sphere for device-to-cloud communication, as well as cloud-to-device communication. Azure Sphere and Azure IoT enable Innodisk to deliver a customized cloud management platform that allows SSD debugging, monitoring of Read/Write patterns and reversion to a default setting. By monitoring the Read/Write patterns, the storage lifespan of the SSD can be increased. Furthermore, the ability to remotely execute debugging messages and revert to a default setting in the case of a device or system crash can be crucial for scenarios that require both in-band and out-of-band management.
For any device deployed in the field, the InnoAGE SSD delivers encrypted device-to-cloud communication and over-the-air updates that can help keep remote devices secured over time from emergent threats. Azure resources like IoT Hub, Deployment Planning Services (DPS), and Azure Web Apps receive telemetry from the SSD and host the management console. Remote recovery and management commands can also be delivered from this console which is received and executed by the Azure Sphere . For example, if there is data corruption or a device is misbehaving, devices can be restored to original state remotely.
Innodisk customers are using the InnoAGE SSD in a variety of applications, including vending machines, factories, and improving shopping experiences. Collaborating with ecosystem partners DFI and Supermicrco, Innodisk created a smart factory concept which allows factory staff to manage devices without being onsite. Furthermore, in the event of the failure of a component, devices are still manageable remotely through out-of-band management. In retail scenarios, the InnoAGE SSD integrates into Point-of-Sale (POS) systems, and embedded PCs used in display kiosks. Azure Sphere ensures the highest level of security for managing devices while Innodisk’s high-performing DRAM offers the performance for advanced AI features including seamless facial recognition.
For anyone interested in learning, please visit the product documentation available here:
- Azure Sphere documentation: Azure Sphere Documentation | Microsoft Docs
- Getting started with the InnoAGE SSD: InnoAGE™ 2.5” SATA SSD 3TI7 | Industrial Grade SSD | Solutions – Innodisk
- InnoAGE has also acquired Azure IoT Plug and Play certification, making it even easier to work with the Azure IoT ecosystem.
