info-beamer hosted - a rock stable system

A minimal and reliable core

When you build software, complexity is the enemy of reliability. We made the decision to start from scratch and only add software that is really needed to bring your digital signs to live. The result is an operating system that's only 50MB total. This has several benefits: Downloading and installing is really fast. System updates are really fast. Usually less than 10MB will be downloaded if we upgrade your system to a new version.

No cruft

Our system only runs exactly what's required. Nothing more. This results in low memory usage and fast start times. Your signs usually start in less then 20 seconds. Every process running on your device is there for a purpose and we know exactly what happens at any moment.

Trivial installation

You don't need special software or knowledge to install our operating system. You just copy a few files to an empty SD card. The operating system does the hard job of setting up everything when the Pi starts for the first time.

Secure by default

Our operating system was build to be as secure as possible from the very start. There are no default passwords and your device is fully firewalled. Communication with our service is always encrypted.

Extensive hardware checks

The operating system constantly monitors itself. It will detect SD card problems, overheating or an insufficient power supply. You get a notification on your dashboard.

Connect to enterprise wireless networks

Our OS supports various WiFi modes. Starting from WPA2 to more complicated setups. You can also roam between different accesspoints. With the Pi3 and Pi4, 2.4Ghz as well as 5Ghz accesspoints are supported.

Optimized for SD cards

SD cards as used by the Raspberry Pi are always a challenge. If you want a reliable digital signage setup that works for many year you can't just run any operating system: You have to specifically optimize to minimize the number of writes to ensure your SD cards live longer. info-beamer hosted is amazing at this: It optimizes every aspect and makes sure your SD cards stay healthy.

No need for a clean shutdown

Our system always boots from read-only data. You can always remove power and be sure the operating system is fine. This is important for long running installations that might get turned off each night. Our system does regular self checks and can automatically repair problems.

Locally cached content

Our syncing process ensures assets you assign to your devices are locally cached before they are used. This ensures reliable playback of your content. All content is cryptographically signed to make sure your signs play exactly what you configured.

Automatic storage management

Our syncing process automatically manages free space on your SD card. It will try to cache as much content as possible, so you can switch between different content without downloading it twice. If space runs out, old or unused files are automatically deleted. You never run out of space on your devices.

Self checks and repairs

The device got randomly shut down while it was downloading new content? No problem: Your device will resume the download later. It will automatically detect if a downloaded file got corrupted when power was removed and will automatically repair it. It will even validate the complete operating system every 24 hours and repair problems if necessary. All fully automated.

Automatic, secure and free updates

We take care of all system updates. They automatically happen in the background. Your digital signs always show their content, even while system update are running. Updates are activated on the next reboot. If there's any problem with an update, our operating system fully reverts to the previous version automatically. Of course all updates are cryptographically signed to make sure your devices stay safe.

Thanks to our small size, we also install a fresh copy on every update. There are never leftovers from earlier versions: Everything is always completely new and exactly what you would get with a fresh installation.