Security That Cannot Become the Outage.

Hardware bypass fail-safe: inline prevention without production risk

Every TXOne Edge appliance ships with a hardware bypass fail-safe relay. If the device loses power or experiences an internal fault, traffic passes through uninterrupted. Your production line never stops because of a security appliance. This is why OT leaders trust inline prevention instead of settling for detection-only.

Start a 60-Minute Proof of Value Review the Fail-Safe Design

Inline Prevention, Operational Safety

Why OT Teams Historically Rejected Inline Security.

An IT firewall that fails closed is a feature. An OT security appliance that fails closed is an outage.

Traditional inline security in industrial networks meant taking on the risk that a failed device would halt production. Most OT leaders refused the trade, which is why detection-only platforms dominate the space even though they cannot prevent. TXOne built a different answer: a hardware relay that physically bypasses the inspection pipeline on power loss or fault, so operations continue regardless of the device state.

Capability

What is Hardware Bypass?

Hardware bypass is a physical relay on every TXOne Edge appliance (EdgeIPS and EdgeFire) that routes traffic straight through the device if power is lost or the unit fails. The bypass is implemented in hardware, independent of the inspection firmware, so it cannot be blocked by a software fault. When the appliance is healthy, traffic flows through the TXODI inspection pipeline with sub-500 microsecond latency; when the appliance is unhealthy, the same traffic is simply forwarded without inspection. Combined with 700,000 hours MTBF and a -40C to 75C operating range, hardware bypass is what makes it safe to deploy inline prevention on the plant floor.

Requirements

Hardware Bypass Challenges

Key challenges that Hardware Bypass addresses.

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Security loses the trust of operations before it can deliver value

Security Tools That Cause Outages

Your IT security tools have already crashed legacy systems and caused the outages they were supposed to prevent. Your OT team now treats every new security product as a production risk until proven otherwise.

Security loses the trust of operations before it can deliver value

Security Tools That Cause Outages

Your IT security tools have already crashed legacy systems and caused the outages they were supposed to prevent. Your OT team now treats every new security product as a production risk until proven otherwise.

Key Components

Core components of the Hardware Bypass capability.

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Physical Bypass Relay on Every Model

Hardware bypass is a physical relay on every EdgeIPS and EdgeFire appliance. It is implemented in hardware, independent of the inspection firmware. When power is lost or the unit faults, the relay closes and traffic passes through the device as if it were not there. No reconfiguration, no failover vote, no software dependency.

Key Capabilities

Implemented in hardware, not firmware

Triggered by power loss or internal fault

Zero-configuration, always on

Available on every EdgeIPS and EdgeFire model

Inline Inspection Without Inline Risk

When the appliance is healthy, traffic runs through the TXODI one-pass inspection pipeline at sub-500 microsecond latency with full signature, behavioral, and virtual patch evaluation. When the appliance is unhealthy, the same traffic is forwarded uninspected. You get the security benefit of inline prevention without accepting the traditional risk that a failed inline device takes the line down.

Key Capabilities

Sub-500 microsecond inspection latency when healthy

Unimpeded traffic flow when unhealthy

No control-plane dependency for the bypass path

Hardware bypass never triggers false positives

Industrial-Rated Reliability

Hardware bypass is one layer; the rest of the appliance is built to match. 700,000 hours MTBF across the Edge product line, -40C to 75C operating range, and fanless design for dusty plant-floor environments. Multiple appliances rarely fail, but when they do, operations keep running.

Key Capabilities

700,000 hours MTBF across the Edge product line

-40C to 75C industrial operating temperature

Fanless design for dusty industrial environments

DIN-rail and rack-mount options for any installation

Zero-Reboot Updates Preserve the Maintenance Window

Hardware bypass protects against device faults. Zero-reboot firmware updates protect against planned change. TXOne Edge applies signature, behavioral, and policy updates without reboot cycles, so security currency does not consume the four-hour maintenance window your operations team needs for production work.

Key Capabilities

Signature and behavioral updates apply without reboot

Policy changes deploy without traffic interruption

Maintenance window preserved for operational work

Update cadence independent of plant calendar

Physical Bypass Relay on Every Model

Hardware bypass is a physical relay on every EdgeIPS and EdgeFire appliance. It is implemented in hardware, independent of the inspection firmware. When power is lost or the unit faults, the relay closes and traffic passes through the device as if it were not there. No reconfiguration, no failover vote, no software dependency.

Key Capabilities

Implemented in hardware, not firmware

Triggered by power loss or internal fault

Zero-configuration, always on

Available on every EdgeIPS and EdgeFire model

Outcomes

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100%

Operational continuity across 3,600+ deployments

100%

Operational continuity across 3,600+ deployments

Deployments with zero unplanned downtime

Identify operational disruption as unacceptable risk

Hours MTBF across the Edge product line

Microsecond inspection latency when healthy

Why Hardware Bypass Matters

This is the engineering decision that turns inline prevention from an OT risk into an OT advantage.

TXOneOperations-first

The bypass relay is physical. A firmware fault or a software crash cannot block it. This is why hardware bypass is trustworthy to OT teams in a way software fail-safe claims never are.

VS

Hardware, Not Software