Rack Mount Computers?

[Mark Smith]

Anybody have any opinions on suppliers of industrial rack mount (19") computers? I'm upgrading some testers and each uses up to six PCI slots. The current computers are old and need to be replaced but the PCI DAQ cards and instruments still meet our needs so I intend to keep using them. I haven't tried to buy rack mount computers in a long time so I have no idea who might be supplying quality product. And while price is considered, I'd take reliability and support over price any day. BTW, I intend to run Windows 7 and exe's built in LV2009.

Thanks,

Mark

[crossrulz]

I have had good luck with SuperLogics. Finding motherboards with six PCI slots might be a challenge for any vendor though. Also make sure you get a computer that is at least 4U or else many of your PCI cards might not fit inside the case.

[jzoller]

No vendors (sorry), but just remember to check your card voltage requirements...

From Wikipedia:

Originally the PCI bus was a 5-volt bus. Later, in PCI Revision 2.x, the PCI bus was a dual-voltage interconnect. In 3.0 this was changed to 3.3 volts only.

Joe Z.

[Tim_S]

Anybody have any opinions on suppliers of industrial rack mount (19") computers?

We buy our industrial computers (which are rack mount) from Advantech for the moment. We're typically getting 12 PCI slots and 2 ISA (yes, we still use an ISA card ). We've had mixed results; typically the negative results are due to 1) customer requirements for a performance machine from an industrial computer, 2) standard industral computer issues (e.g., the PCI bridge fried), 3) repairing the warantied PC involves shipping it to California for two weeks, and 4) the local sales rep stopped returning our calls and was mysteriously replaced. The positives are that the local rep was replaced, the systems tend to just work out of the box and they last decades so long as typical PC maintenance is done.

The other outfits we've had drop by for lunch-and-learn sessions have seemed about the same. There was one in Ann Arbor, MI (sorry, I can't recall the name) that talked a good presentation and had some good "street cred" to back it up. We've not used their systems yet.

Tim

[asbo]

We use OrbitMicro pretty regularly. Like crossrulz said, though, 6x PCI will be a rare beast no matter where you go. Unless it's back in time ...

[Wire Warrior]

We bought ours from CyberResearch and had good results, however, that was several years ago.

Jason

[Mark Smith]

Thanks for all the suggestions - this at gives me a place to start. It looks like 6 PCI slots is no problem if I go the single board computer/expansion chassis route ( up to 14 seem readily available). But no dice if wanted a motherboard with 6 PCI slots - most only have up to two PCI slots with the rest being PCIe.

Thanks,

Mark

[crelf]

We use OrbitMicro pretty regularly. Like crossrulz said, though, 6x PCI will be a rare beast no matter where you go. Unless it's back in time ...

Yep - the ones we get from OrbitMicro are good quality, and they have a bunch of different configuration options.

[patufet_99]

Hello,

you can have a look too at:

http://www.beckhoff.com/

Regards

[Cat]

If we're not putting together our own, we generally go with Rave Computer. A bit on the pricey side, but well-made and good support.

[JohnRH]

I STRONGLY recommend Single Board Systems for their top quality hardware and excellent support. You will not go wrong using them.