How do industrial computers differ from conventional computers?

At the stage of creating an enterprise, it is better to immediately take into account the abundance of factors that can affect the work process in the future. It is useful from the beginning to approach as comprehensively as possible to optimize and increase efficiency, in general — to reduce production costs. Last but not least, this applies to the computers installed in the enterprise.

Basically, today no industry can do without industrial computers, be it mining, processing, manufacturing or any other industry or even service sector. Whether setting up a large private enterprise, a state-owned enterprise, a small factory or even a bank, reliable computers that can withstand heavy loads and harsh conditions are sometimes simply necessary.

One might argue: “After all, office computers have always been suitable for everyone, why change tradition!?” It may seem so at first glance.In fact, it is worth taking a closer look, and the benefits of introducing industrial computers will become obvious and very attractive. Of course, there are some formal similarities between industrial computers and office and home computers, but there are many more differences here.

The functionality of all computers is similar: both computers receive, store, process and transmit information. But then the differences begin. The main difference is that specific man-made manufacturing factors force the manufacturer to make the industrial computer case special.

If the case of a home or office system unit can be pretentious and modern, stylish and beautiful, then the system unit of an industrial computer serves exclusively for production purposes and meets the requirement of reliable operation in an industrial environment.

So, the case of an industrial computer must meet a single criterion — reliability, which is made up of several important components. In appearance, such a system unit may look like a nondescript metal box with holes, connectors and wires, but it can withstand all negative factors that can neither reduce the speed of performance of production functions nor harm the quality of operations performed from a computer.

The body of an industrial computer is made of titanium alloys, and the bottom is rubberized, so the fixing of its base is firm.

Some industrial computer cases are made to be mounted or built into a chassis.Special damping mounts of boards and drives inside the case make the system unit mechanically resistant to vibration, noise and even shock, while internal mounts allow easy disconnection of boards and drives to replace them quickly and efficiently during a computer repair or upgrade.

Replacing the circuit board takes only a few minutes, while for an office computer the same process will take tens of minutes. In addition, industrial computers are always equipped with removable flash memory, which is necessary for industrial production conditions.

Protection from dust and overheating are important components of the reliability of an industrial computer. High-performance and very reliable fans blow air through the filters, creating a positive pressure gradient from the case to the outside.

Air filters can be easily removed and cleaned periodically. The fans work together with a thermostat and depending on the temperature outside the system unit, the correct temperature inside is maintained by adjusting the fan speed.

In general, industrial computers are able to withstand the widest range of temperatures compared to office computers, from -40 ° C to + 70 °, which is achieved by using a special base of elements in combination with a special case design (often equipped with a large area radiator). As a result, interruptions in the operation of the processor cooling system are practically excluded.

Thus, no noise, no dust, no toxic substances from the environment, no pressure or temperature drop are not terrible for the industrial computer because it is specially designed to work in such extreme conditions.

Industrial computer cases are always distinguished not only by resistance to dust and moisture, but also have increased resistance to electromagnetic and electrostatic interference, to radiation, and their electrical circuits are least susceptible to high voltage and impulse noise. Industrial computers don't get crashed by disturbances that ordinary computers sometimes get overloaded or freeze.

Although industrial computers are specialized for solving narrow tasks, their memory capacity and performance are sometimes lower than office computers, however, it is specialized for specific production, industrial computers that most optimally cope with their tasks in its special, sometimes extreme (in deadly for an ordinary home or office computer) external conditions.

Even the monitors of some industrial computers are protected with a special panel and shock-resistant glass, resistant to vibrations with a degree of protection of the case reaching IP68 (full protection against dust and moisture).

The huge office computer market, which is constantly growing in its computing capabilities, lags behind in some capabilities and criteria, individual industrial personal computers, built for highly specialized industries to order. At the same time, the industrial computer can be easily connected to an ordinary personal computer if necessary.

As for industrial computer power supplies, they are always run with a margin that works in favor of high levels of normalized mean time between failures, measured in hundreds of thousands of hours of continuous operation for industrial computers.

Backup power is always ready to prevent the loss or leakage of critical work information in the event of a sudden power failure. The backup power supply can be powered by 12, 24 or 48 volts.

In addition, the RAM of industrial computers becomes unstable with its own battery and stabilized power supply, which remains unchanged even if there are power surges or frequent power outages in the network.