Benchmarking involves the measurement of a system’s performance with the intention of comparing results to other systems. In many cases, benchmarking is synonymous with stress-testing, using workloads to simulate “real world” situations.

GMS provides guidance on the following recommended utilities for the Linux^® Operating System. We neither endorse nor promote any of these tools and have no meaningful relationship with the developers, financial or otherwise.

This document defines the GMS standard pin configurations on SSDs to support the Secure Erase and Write Protect functions on GMS products.

This document provides information on Coin Cell Batteries (also known as Button Cell Batteries) contained in GMS products or otherwise provided by GMS for use in its products.

Introduction

SecureDNA™ is the center of General Micro System’s continuing commitment to product security and is detailed in separate GMS documentation (GMS document #003-0006, available under NDA). An important part of the GMS SecureDNA^™ suite is our SourceSafe^™ BIOS.

This Application Brief provides a high-level overview of SourceSafe^™ BIOS’s capabilities and why it sets GMS apart.

Introduction

CoaXPress^® is a digital data interface that has dominated high speed machine vision systems for several years.

With its ability to transmit large image data over greater distances, CoaXPress is ideal for transmitting data-rich video and still images over a single 75Ω coaxial (“coax”) cable. Depending on configuration1, CoaXPress can handle images at double an 8K UHD resolution.

Overview

As cyber security concerns grow, the DoD is placing more emphasis on protecting data in motion and data at rest.

While data in motion primarily deals with hardening systems and preventing them from being hacked while operational, data at rest deals exclusively with encrypting data stored on non-volatile media and erasing or sanitizing that data when necessary.

This document provides information for enabling drive encryption with GMS products.

Sanitization and GMS Disk Drives

Excluding legacy systems, GMS uses only Solid-State Drives (SSDs) for speed and reliability. For example, the X9 Spider system accepts SSDs for storage, only in M.2 or 2.5-inch form factors, either SATA or NVMe^® interfaces.

Customers and their military programs may have cybersecurity requirements to erase or “sanitize” SSDs, a process also known as “zeroizing” the drive. All modern GMS systems like the X9 family include singular or comprehensive (system-wide) sanitization capabilities such as SecureDNA™—all of which end up at erasing the SSD itself.

This document serves as a comprehensive resource for understanding the functionalities and features of the PassMark^®BurnInTest Software. It specifically outlines the types of hardware that can undergo testing using the software, offering a detailed exploration of the compatible components and devices. Additionally, the document delves into a comparative analysis, highlighting the distinctions and variations in the software's performance and functionality when applied to systems running on Windows^® operating system (OS) versus those operating on Linux^® OS. In essence, it aims to provide users with a thorough understanding of the software's capabilities across different hardware configurations and operating systems.

The M.2 module has become an increasingly important computer hardware innovation since it was first introduced in 2013. The extremely small size of the M.2 module, especially when compared to full-size PC expansion cards, makes it indispensable for use in small and powerful computer systems, such as the X9 SPIDER^™ systems designed and produced by GMS.

GMS products incorporate an AMI^®-based system BIOS. The BIOS can be updated “in the field” without having to return the product to GMS for this purpose.

Thunderbolt™ 4 is the fundamental connectivity architecture employed in GMS’s X9 SPIDER family of small form factor rugged modules and displays. 

The X9 SPIDER products showcase the open distributed computing architecture (DCA) concept. Central to this implementation is Thunderbolt connectivity, which allows X9 SPIDER to tackle complex situations by rapidly, and easily, upscaling resources. 

What is Thunderbolt™? 

Thunderbolt is promoted by Intel^® as the ultimate experience in universal connectivity. The Thunderbolt protocol supports fast data transfer, high-resolution video, and power delivery at the same time, with a single cable. Thunderbolt technology was created in 2010 by Intel^®, in collaboration with Apple^®. It was initially marketed under the code name Light Peak and first incorporated in the 2011 MacBook Pro with a mini DisplayPort™ connector. 

Although Ethernet technology may seem straightforward to the average user, understanding the terminology is a little bit complicated.  This article examines the Ethernet naming system, the available speeds, and the physical layer media on which Ethernet runs.

In a computer system, “hot-swap” refers to the ability of removing or adding components while the system remains powered, without needing to shut down or reboot the system. Components that support this feature are said to be “hot‑swap” or “hot-plug” compatible.

A well-known example of hot-swap capability is the ever-present Universal Serial Bus (USB). USB allows peripherals such as a keyboard, mouse, printer, etc., to be easily inserted and removed without interrupting system power.

With all of the buzz surrounding artificial intelligence (AI), data mining, bitcoin, and machine vision, graphics cards and GPUs (graphics processing unit) are all the rage.  Graphics cards and their GPU processors have gotten crazy-popular and crazier-expensive.

But what do they do, and how do they compare?  Increasingly the military is interested in graphics cards and GPGPUs (general purpose graphics processing unit) for autonomous vehicles, “tip of the spear” processing (right in the weapon itself), for sensor fusion, to perform image enhancement, and more.

This document provides a brief introduction on RAID and RAID level 10 and provides information and guidance in setting up and testing a RAID 10 in a Linux^® environment on GMS’ S2U server.

Intel RSTe software RAID utility had previously been evaluated in Windows and had uncovered some limitations due to the S2U server architecture.  This is the companion effort, on the Linux platform, to evaluate the software RAID capabilities on the S2U server.

The testing was purposely limited to RAID level 10, composed of a full complement of 12 NVMe disks, with a CentOS Linux^® operating system resident on the S2U server.  The RAID was implemented in software, no hardware RAID controller was resident in the system, and relied on the native RAID features in the Linux^® OS.

Although focused on a RAID 10 setup, the provided information can be used, with minor modifications, to accommodate other RAID levels.

SecureDNA^TM is the security suite included in GMS embedded products—from small form factor systems, to single-board computers and smart displays. SecureDNA™ is a GMS-developed, COTS-based approach to meeting the sanitization/zeroize requirements found in many programs when there is no specific guidance given (“flowed down”) from the program customer. 

You’re probably very familiar with “USB”. Universal Serial Bus is the plug-and-play interface that allows you to plug in mice, keyboards, and a variety of other peripherals to your computer. All modern computers have at least one USB port. USB shines because of its fast data transfers – up to 40 Gbps with USB4®.

As USB evolved, so too did power delivery capability. Today, USB has become a ubiquitous power socket for many cell phones and other handheld devices. USB-PD, “Power Delivery”, is a fast-charge, industry-standard, open specification that provides high-speed charging with variable voltages using device negotiation to obtain up to 48 V at 5 A for a whopping 240 W of power! 

As the USB and Thunderbolt standards evolve, let’s unravel key differences between the various standards.

The USB Type-C™ connector, aside from being reversible, is supported by many devices – gone are the days of fumbling with an assortment of USB cables with different connector types. A major advantage is that the Type-C connector goes beyond traditional USB by supporting a variety of protocols using “alternate modes”. 

The Thunderbolt™ specification, currently at version 4, marries the obvious appeal of the Type-C “universal” connector with faster data transfer speeds, expanded audio/video capabilities, and intelligent power. 

How do you re-enable the video output on a GMS system…when you’ve accidentally told the system to turn off the video?! As you can imagine, it is quite difficult to use a mouse to follow video screen prompts when there’s no operational screen. This happens more frequently than you’d think: an accidental BIOS setting by the customer shuts off the video, leaving the operator literally unable to see the screen…in order to re-enable the screen.
 
Fear not: there is a way to get into the BIOS to re-enable video to the monitor, even when the video is set to “off” in  BIOS.