Intel vPro® in industrial mini PCs: Efficient & secure

What is the Intel vPro® platform?

The Intel vPro® platform is a combination of hardware and firmware technologies designed to improve the security, manageability and performance of business computers. It integrates features such as Intel® Active Management Technology (AMT) and Intel® Endpoint Management Assistant (EMA), which enable efficient remote management. It also offers comprehensive protection at hardware level with the Intel® Hardware Shield.

Advantages for industrial mini PCs

1. Compact performance for demanding environments
   Industrial Mini PCs are designed for use in harsh environments where space and power consumption are limited. The integration of the Intel vPro® platform enables these devices to offer high computing power and reliability despite their compact size - ideal for applications in manufacturing, automation and logistics.
2. Enhanced security
   With Intel® Hardware Shield, the vPro® platform offers multi-layered protection that detects and defends against threats at the hardware level. This is crucial for companies that process sensitive data and need to be protected against cyber attacks.
3. Efficient remote management
   Thanks to Intel® AMT and EMA, devices can be monitored, maintained and even restarted in the event of system crashes regardless of location - even if the operating system is no longer responding. This reduces downtime and lowers operating costs.
4. Long-term stability and compatibility
   The Intel Stable IT Platform Program(Intel SIPP) ensures that hardware and software components remain compatible over a longer period of time - an advantage for companies with long-term planned IT structures.

vPro® Essentials, - Enterprise or - Evo™ Design?

This Intel platform is available in different versions - each adapted to the requirements of different company sizes and application scenarios.

• For smaller companies, vPro® Essentials offers basic security and management functions.
• vPro® Enterprise is aimed at larger IT infrastructures and offers comprehensive remote maintenance, hardware protection and stability.
• With vPro® Enterprise for Chrome, there is also a variant for ChromeOS devices.
• While vPro® with Evo™ Design is specially designed for particularly powerful, mobile notebooks - ideal for hybrid work models.

A closer look at the versions helps to find the right solution for individual requirements.

Practical example: Use at a medium-sized mechanical engineering company

A German mechanical engineering company with over 200 employees was looking for a solution to better network its decentralized production sites. The previous industrial PCs did not offer sufficient remote maintenance functions, which led to costly downtimes in the event of system failures.

After the introduction of devices with Intel vPro® compatibility, the situation changed fundamentally:

• Centralized remote IT maintenance: Using Intel® AMT, the IT department was able to completely remotely control PCs in factory halls 600 km away - including BIOS access.
• Faster recovery: A defective PC no longer had to be replaced - out-of-band management meant that an IT technician could get the system up and running again remotely within a few minutes.
• Security compliance: With Intel® Hardware Shield, the company's security guidelines were also enforced on machine controllers for the first time, as BIOS accesses could be logged and secured centrally.

The result: average downtime was reduced by 65% and maintenance costs fell by more than 30% in the first year. In addition, the IT department was able to use the time gained to tackle more strategic projects in the areas of automation and predictive maintenance.

An interesting article on this topic can be found at it-techblog.de.

Conclusion and spo-comm Mini-PCs with vPro® compatibility

The integration of this Intel platform in industrial mini PCs offers companies a powerful solution to make their IT infrastructure secure, efficient and future-proof. Especially in distributed industrial environments with high security and maintainability requirements, these systems offer real added value.

The following of our spo-comm systems are compatible:

• ONE i5 (vPro® essential)
• SQUARE 18 & 21 (with i5 processor)
• NOVA R680E
• WINDBOX III Ultra
• RUGGED Q670E
• RUGGED Q470E
• NOVA R680E

If you have any questions about this or other topics, please do not hesitate to contact us.