Device Setup

PhyStack runs on a wide variety of devices, from powerful edge computers to virtual environments and even web browsers. This flexibility lets you deploy exactly where you need, whether that’s on-site hardware, cloud infrastructure, or development environments.

Understanding your device options helps you choose the right platform for your specific use case, from production deployments to development and testing.

Supported Device Types

The table below shows what each device type supports and whether it’s suitable for production use:

Device Type	PhyOS	Screen Apps	Edge Apps	Production Use	Physical Device
x86-64	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Giada DN74	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Jetson Orin Nano DevKit	✅	✅	✅	❌	✅
Advantech MIC-711-ON-3A1	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Advantech MIC-733-A05A1	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Samsung Tizen TV	❌	✅	❌	✅	✅
VMware x86-64	✅	❌	✅	✅	❌
Hyper-V x86-64	✅	❌	✅	✅	❌
KVM / QEMU x86-64	✅	✅	✅	✅	❌
Web Browser	❌	✅	❌	❌	❌

Note: AI models with hardware acceleration are supported on physical devices that have CUDA-compatible GPUs available.

Choosing the Right Device

For Production:

• Physical devices for maximum control and performance
• Enterprise virtualization for cloud-native edge deployments
• Samsung Tizen TVs for digital signage and display scenarios

For Development:

• The device simulator for local development with full app support
• Web Browser for quick screen app prototyping and testing

For AI Workloads:

• x86-64 with CUDA GPU for hardware-accelerated AI model inference
• Virtual platforms for AI workloads that don’t require GPU acceleration

Physical Devices

x86-64 and ARM-based Hardware

Intel and AMD x86-64 devices and ARM-based Giada DN74 are ideal for production deployments where you need full control and maximum performance. With PhyOS installed, they become completely managed PhyStack devices with:

• Full app support: Both edge apps and screen apps when a display is connected
• Versatile deployment: Use as edge computing devices, interactive kiosks, or complete user experiences
• Hardware acceleration: Devices with CUDA-compatible GPUs can run AI models with hardware acceleration
• Production ready: Suitable for on-site, enterprise deployments

Nvidia Jetson Orin Nano

The NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano is ideal for advanced AI workloads and applications. PhyOS supports the NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano DevKit. PhyOS images for Jetson include the CUDA runtime preconfigured and hardware-accelerated video playback support, allowing developers to focus on building applications with a streamlined setup experience rather than dealing with complex configuration processes. This device is perfect for AI development, prototyping, and testing advanced edge computing scenarios.

The Advantech MIC-711-ON-3A1 and MIC-733-A05A1 are industrial edge AI systems that run the same PhyOS arm64 image family as the Jetson.

Samsung Tizen TVs

Samsung Tizen TVs support screen apps and are perfect for digital signage scenarios:

• Supported versions: Tizen 4, 6.5, 7, and 8
• Use cases: Digital signage, information displays, content delivery
• Limitations: Screen apps only; don’t offer the same level of control as PhyOS-compatible devices

You can learn more about Tizen device support on learn.phystack.com.

Virtual Devices

Virtual environments provide flexibility for development, testing, and cloud deployments.

Enterprise Virtualization

Production-ready virtualization platforms support edge apps; KVM / QEMU also supports screen apps:

• VMware x86-64: Enterprise virtualization for edge computing workloads
• Hyper-V x86-64: Microsoft’s virtualization platform for Windows environments
• KVM / QEMU x86-64: Open-source virtualization for Linux-based infrastructure, including OpenShift Virtualization. Every PhyOS release ships a QCOW2 image with virtio support.

These platforms are ideal for running edge apps in environments where deploying physical devices isn’t possible or desired.

Development Platforms

For development and testing, these virtual options provide easy setup and iteration:

• The device simulator: phy-simulator is a standalone tool for local development of screen and edge apps
• Web Browser: Quick testing environment for screen apps only

Getting Started - Setup A Device

For detailed device setup instructions, visit learn.phystack.com and follow the guided setup in the PhyStack Console when connecting a device to an installation.

The device simulator is integrated into the development workflow. You will learn more about using it in our edge app and screen app tutorials. For more details, refer to the dev environment setup guide.

Next Steps

Once you understand your device options:

• Build your first edge app
• Build your first screen app