Infrastructure Management &
Monitoring for Business-Critical
ContinuityTM
Avocent® HMX Digital Extension KVM for Industrial Applications
Table of Contents
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Executive Summary
Protecting Computing Assets Through Centralization
Clean Rooms
Remote Management Access
Plant Security
Executive Summary
The Avocent® HMX digital extension KVM solution is an advanced, high-performance extension KVM
platform capable of high-quality, point-to-point extension and advanced digital matrix capabilities.
The Avocent® HMX system is a proven performer used by 9 out of 10 major US broadcast networks,
some of the largest civil engineering projects in human history and countless real-time, critical facilities
such as dams, power plants, airports and modern manufacturing plants. The Avocent® HMX system
allows facilities to centralize their computing resources while providing seamless, high-quality access
from anywhere in the plant; thus, providing users with an unmatched user experience at any distance,
enhanced security, advanced collaborative features and the support of the world leader in industrial
process and access and control. The Avocent® HMX system allows users to utilize existing the local area
network (LAN). It supports a comprehensive range of peripherals including DVI-I video, CD audio, USB
mass storage, USB mass storage rights management, keyboard and mouse and other USB devices.
3 Avocent® HMX Digital Extension KVM for Industrial Applications
Avocent® HMX Digital Extension KVM for Industrial Applications
Protecting Computing Assets
Through Centralization
Reduce security risks by isolating equipment in
specialized areas, while maintaining a high-quality, enduser experience.
Digital Extension/Switching on a Single Wire
The HMX digital extension KVM solution can be deployed easily over a
LAN. It supports a comprehensive range of peripherals including DVI-I
video, CD audio, USB mass storage device, keyboard and mouse and
other USB devices. This proven technology eliminates distance limitations
within the LAN, allowing computers and users to be located as far apart as
necessary without adversely affecting function.
Important Points
• Remote Computer Access
Users have secure, rights-based access to the full
computer/device experience from their desks.
• High-Performance Extension KVM
Users are able to utilize all of their computer
peripherals to control target devices.
• Remove Noise, Heat and Clutter
Replace the desktops on your desk with HMX
receivers the size of a paperback book. Move the
noise and heat into the data center.
LAN
HMX
User Station
The HMX system allows operators and engineers to access
equipment and servers seamlessly from their desks.
4 Avocent® HMX Digital Extension KVM for Industrial Applications
The Market
The Solution
Modern, power-generation, water-processing or manufacturing
plants have a vast infrastructure of critical, intelligent devices,
industrial PCs and other high-cost infrastructure that often have to
be accessed from within a production area.
The Avocent® HMX digital extension KVM solution set allows
plant management to keep vital and mission-critical computing
resources far away from risky environments, while still enabling
a real-time user experience. With the HMX system in place, users
enjoy transparent, “next-to-machine” access from the production
floor or the operations center without compromising any
functionality or ability.
The danger is that any equipment there faces the risk of accidental
damage, environmental exposure to pollutants (such as hydrogen
sulfide) and other adverse factors. Even ruggedized versions
are often not designed in a way to defend equipment from
environmental abuse past accidental impact or occasional spillage.
Additionally, the management of the HMX connections can be
aggregated and accessed from centralized control or operations
rooms. One engineer can access all designated equipment from his
desk without lag, without loss in visual quality and with full USB and
keyboard and mouse access. If USB access is undesirable for security
reasons, administration can easily restrict USB access on a target-bytarget or user-by-user level.
5 Avocent® HMX Digital Extension KVM for Industrial Applications
Avocent® HMX Digital Extension KVM for Highly Sensitive Applications
Clean Rooms
Minimize contamination risk by separating staff from
sensitive equipment, while maintaining a high-quality,
end-user experience.
Prevent Contamination of Sensitive Samples or Equipment
The HMX digital extension KVM solution allows industrial plant or research
facility personnel to access computers and equipment in clean rooms without
having to enter the room. The HMX system can accomplish this by extending
real-time, spatially lossless access to any equipment that accepts DVI/VGA
and USB/PS2 mouse and keyboard. The HMX system can be deployed easily
over a LAN. This proven technology allows your staff to interact in clean rooms
or hazardous areas of the plant from their desks without having to prepare,
decontaminate or spend time in potentially dangerous environments.
Important Points
• Remote Computer Access Users have secure, rights-based access to the full
computer/device experience from their desks.
• High-Performance Extension KVM
Users are able to utilize all of their computer
peripherals to control target devices.
• Access Resources No Matter What Many computing resources and other equipment
have to be in environments that are less than
desirable for people to enter and the HMX system
allows users to avoid them completely.
HMX IQ
HMX Manager
LAN
HMX
User Station
HMX
User Station
HMX
User Station
HMX
User Station
Seamlessly access resources wherever they may be.
6 Avocent® HMX Digital Extension KVM for Industrial Applications
The Market
The Application
Modern, power-generation, water-processing or manufacturing
plants have vast infrastructure of critical, intelligent devices,
industrial PCs and other high-cost infrastructure that often have to
be accessed from within a production area.
The Avocent® HMX digital extension KVM solution allows
engineers to transparently access clean room machinery and
computers from their desks, without any threat of contamination
or wasted time.
A major challenge is presented for contamination control when
equipment within is in need of repair or maintenance. Considerable
time is wasted while the engineer “suits up” to enter a clean area and
special attention has to be paid to tools and processes. If an accident
occurs, valuable production time is spent decontaminating the area.
The HMX system can even connect to analog and non-networked
devices within the clean room, enabling even broader, remote
administration.
Implementing an HMX solution in a clean room environment quickly
pays for itself by freeing up hours of engineering time per week
that would otherwise be spent preparing the engineer for entry or
decontaminating the room.
Engineering can use the HMX system to completely segregate
supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) networks from
user-accessible networks by creating discrete and distinct branches
that only include the target part of the plan.
7 Avocent® HMX Digital Extension KVM for Industrial Applications
Avocent® HMX Digital Extension KVM for Industrial Command and Control
Remote Management Access
Enable a central command center with universal views
and unhindered access and control of remote devices.
Digital Extension/Switching on a Single Wire
The HMX digital extension KVM solution allows plant staff to access
necessary equipment from any enabled access point in the facility. This
allows engineers to quickly troubleshoot equipment from their desks,
command center or from the other side of the facility. Reduce many types
of unplanned downtime by quickly accessing, assessing and reconfiguring
equipment–all at a distance.
Important Points
• Remote Computer Access Users have secure, rights-based access to the full
computer/device experience from their desks.
• High-Performance Extension KVM
Users are able to utilize all of their computer
peripherals to control target devices.
• Ability to Remotely Access Non-Networked
Devices
Older equipment that is not capable of being
networked but accepts keyboard, mouse and
video connections can be accessed seamlessly and
remotely.
• Layered Security Control The HMX digital extension KVM solution allows
administrators to disable USB virtual media access
on a device-to-device basis.
HMX Manager
HMX IQ
LAN
HMX
User Station
HMX
User Station
Seamlessly access resources wherever they may be.
8 Avocent® HMX Digital Extension KVM for Industrial Applications
The Market
The Application
Many plants today have primary control rooms that are off
premises and oversee the operations of more than one facility at
the same time.
A centralized control infrastructure can be enabled through the
use of the HMX digital extension KVM solution. With it in place,
users at one location can access, monitor and control various types
of equipment and computer devices over a secure LAN. The HMX
system accomplishes this while maintaining a transparent user
experience equal to a local desktop experience.
In order to achieve this centralized management scenario, the
operations staff needs to have instant access to monitoring and
management systems to ensure optimum operational efficiency. The
most common answer is to dispatch a repair crew within the remote
facility or from the operations center, but this can result in extended
periods of downtime and cost the factory hundreds of thousands of
dollars. The real-time user experience that the HMX system provides
allows engineers to access their business-critical applications across
the plant with the press of a button, as if they were there.
Operations staff can easily switch between different systems and get
a 360-degree view of the plant status to ensure proper operations
and business output. Engineers can use video walls to monitor
several screens at the same time and quickly call up individual
screens at their desks, enabling them to efficiently address the
vast majority of issues within seconds, without having to travel
or dispatch technicians. The HMX system functionality can save
hundreds of hours in unplanned downtime and result in significant
savings in manpower and funds.
9 Avocent® HMX Digital Extension KVM for Industrial Applications
Avocent® HMX Digital Extension KVM for Industrial Security
Plant Security
Tighten security and ensure regulatory compliance by
keeping sensitive equipment in protected areas, as well
as provide topnotch end-consumer service.
Digital Extension/Switching on a Single Wire
The HMX digital extension KVM solution can be deployed easily over
a LAN. The HMX system is usually deployed on its LAN and can be
used to maintain a full user experience when accessing Programmable
Logicboard Controller (PLC) devices or SCADA computers without allowing
unapproved data to pass into the production network. This prevents
potential security breaches from Trojans, viruses and potential backdoors
within the network, isolating the potential vulnerabilities and securing the
internal network from intentional and inadvertent contamination.
Important Points
• Remote Computer Access
Users have secure, rights-based access to the full
computer/device experience from their desks.
• High-Performance Extension KVM
Users are able to utilize all of their computer
peripherals to control target devices.
• Ability to Remotely Access Non-Networked
Devices
Older equipment that is not capable of being
networked but accepts keyboard, mouse and
video connections can be accessed seamlessly
and remotely.
• Layered Security Control
The HMX digital extension KVM allows
administrators to disable USB virtual media on a
device basis providing for superior security.
LAN
HMX
User Station
The HMX system allows operators and engineers to access
equipment and servers seamlessly from their desks.
10 Avocent® HMX Digital Extension KVM for Industrial Applications
The Market
The Application
Modern production facilities face a constant barrage of security
threats such as physical trespass on plant property and unauthorized
virtual access to plant networks and computer resources.
In this application, the users need full access to industrial PCs and
equipment within the plant to keep the operation running smoothly.
Typically, only modern networked devices are accessible from the
engineering office. That means that in order to monitor, maintain,
calibrate and resolve issues, engineers must make frequent and
productivity-disrupting trips to the devices in question.
Unfortunately, the driving force for many plants when installing
legacy and current generation systems was convenience and
interoperability rather than security. These pragmatic design
choices often create potential security flaws which are not easily
remedied. In fact, in a recent third-party study of five different
vendors’ PLC devices, significant security flaws were found in every
implementation that could be exploited remotely by an automated
piece of software.
The Avocent® HMX digital extension KVM solution allows plants to
implement one solution that addresses both the physical security of
equipment as well as the cyber security of the plant equipment and
network.
By implementing the HMX digital extension KVM solution, a plant
can put its SCADA infrastructure on a separate, discrete maintenance
network. The security is maintained by only being accessible from
other SCADA machines and not from the user space, thus preventing
infection of the network by malware or malicious file transfers.
Engineers retain unhindered access to the equipment via the HMX
receivers at their desks. The technology allows them to almost
instantaneously switch their access to any equipment (that they
have been given rights to) and operate it via full keyboard, video and
mouse interaction.
11 Avocent® HMX Digital Extension KVM for Industrial Applications
About Emerson Network Power
Emerson Network Power, a business of Emerson (NYSE:EMR), is the global leader in enabling Business-Critical Continuity™ from grid to chip
for telecommunication networks, data centers, healthcare and industrial facilities. Emerson Network Power provides innovative solutions
and expertise in areas including AC and DC power and precision cooling systems, embedded computing and power, integrated racks and
enclosures, power switching and controls, infrastructure management and connectivity. All solutions are supported globally by local Emerson
Network Power service technicians. Aperture® and Avocent® solutions from Emerson Network Power simplify data center infrastructure
management by maximizing computing capacity and lowering costs while enabling the data center to operate at peak performance. For
more information, visit www.Aperture.com, www.Avocent.com or www.EmersonNetworkPower.com.
Emerson Network Power.
The global leader in enabling Business-Critical ContinuityTM.
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