Last year, our LGX Engineering Division grew our in-house product line with well-engineered, high-quality computers and cases that are “designed to be redesigned.” Some highlights:

• - LGX AG150 Atom Fanless Computer - This is a low-profile fanless industrial computer featuring an energy-efficient HD-capable, dual-core Intel Atom processor. The system is mountable on horizontal and vertical surfaces and ideal for space-constrained applications.
• - LGX MC500 Mini-ITX Case - This case is versatile and durable and easy to customize for any application. It offers plenty of cooling and interchangeable faceplates allowing for easy upgrades in an easy-to-mount form factor.
• - LGX CT100 Mountable Open Case - The case is a versatile open case form factor designed for Mini-ITX 3.5” mainboards in an industrial, easily-mountable chassis.
• - LGX MK150 Expandable 1.5U Rackmount Case - A versatile case that is modular and designed for use with up to four Mini-ITX mainboards and up to six 2.5” hard drives or solid state drives.
• - LGX ML250 Fanless Mini-ITX Case - Compact and easily customizable, this fanless case features excellent thermal management and is an ideal platform for customization and scalable solutions.

We also, in 2012, worked to round out our full OEM service offering.  Frankly, we've always worked with customers on configurations, production, and support, but many of our engineering services are new.  And, as we defined the process we use with the larger project customers, we've worked to fill in holes and communicate the full solution.

• - Consultation & System Configuration - We work closely with our clients to determine their specific needs and help them find the right configuration for their application.
• - Service Options - We offer hardware engineering services, branding & labeling, OS development, environmental testing and regulatory testing to be sure our clients project is taken care of from beginning to end.
• Prototype testing - Because we start with off-the-shelf products we can swiftly get prototypes in the hands of clients for testing.
• - Production - Our experienced system assembly team are capable of handling highly-specific assembly jobs as well as large-volume manufacturing projects all in house.
• - Logistics - With access to a global supply chain we can easily meet price and leadtime requirements.
• - Lifecycle Management - Our carefully selected product line ensures long life-cycles and revision control. We can manage your project throughout the life of your system with ongoing technical support and communication alerting clients of EOL notices, platform upgrades and Product Change Notifications.

Contact a technical sales associate at +31 85 2733760 to discuss your project requirements.

Our computers feature fanless and wide temperature designs that can withstand all the elements including dust, shock, vibration and temperatures ranging from -40° to 85° Celsius.

But just how rugged are our computers? View the video below to find out.

Patrick Barry, Jetway’s Business Development Manager, said, “Logic Supply’s new NF9G-powered line of small, rugged computers offer high-performance, energy efficiency, and I/O flexibility.”

He continued, “Logic Supply has consistently shown the ability to incorporate the latest Jetway Mini-ITX products into its extensive line of chassis and systems to create complete solutions. For volume projects requiring specific configurations and prototype-through-mass-production support, Logic Supply has emerged as one of our premiere partners.”

The NF9G-QM77, released in the US in October, supports Intel Core™ i3/i5/i7 Mobile Processors. This is a powerful, energy efficient embedded board and is ideal for demanding multimedia applications where high-performance onboard graphics and high-speed data transfer are a must.

JP Ishaq, Product Manager for Logic Supply, highlighted the motherboard’s I/O flexibility: “The default I/O offers HDMI, DisplayPort, and VGA, as well as COM, dual Intel gigabit LAN, and four USB ports.” He continued, “In terms of expansion, it offers a full PCIe x16 slot, dual PCIe Mini Card slots (one half-size and one full-size which doubles as mSATA), and integration with Jetway's new 2nd generation of expansion daughterboards, which now uses the faster PCI Express bus (x4).”

These daughterboards can add up to four additional LAN ports, four serial ports, or even an option for a low-power, discrete NVIDIA GeForce GT610M GPU to supplement the onboard graphics.

Logic Supply now offers the NF9G-QM77 in three of its flagship, preconfigured mini-ITX PCs:

LGX MC500
Durable, small, and discrete
190 x 62 x 196 mm

SolidLogic-C292
Offers two HDDs, PCIe expansion and wireless connectivity
196 x 219 x 83 mm

LGX MK150
Rackmount, mounting for up to six 2.5" hard or solid state drives
Ideal for RAID and server applications
The board can also be paired with a wide-input power supply, making it a solid automotive and/or industrial system.

About Logic Supply
Logic Supply is a specialized systems provider serving the embedded and industrial computing market. With locations in the USA, Europe, and Asia, Logic Supply provides pre-configured small form factor systems, the most comprehensive selection of compatible components, and unique computer hardware. Logic Supply offers turnkey assembly for OEM customers and custom OS development for Windows Embedded Standard and Linux platforms. Through LGX Systems, the company offers custom engineering services and develops innovative, rugged hardware products. Visit the Logic Supply EU website at www.logicsupply.eu.

About Jetway Computer Corporation
Jetway Computer Corporation is one of the leading motherboard and IT product manufacturers in the world with over 20 years of OEM design and manufacturing experience. In addition to delivering reliable quality products, Jetway continuously works with its partners to deliver extraordinary computing technology for today and beyond. For more information, visit www.jetwaycomputer.com.

If a disk is not initialized, it will show up in the system’s BIOS and in the Device Manager, but it will not be present in My Computer. Initialization can be performed through the Disk Management utility, which is easily launched by launching diskmgmt.msc from the Run command.

Once in the Disk Management utility, Windows will generally automatically recognize an uninitialized disk and you’ll be presented with an easy-to-follow wizard. If this does not happen, you can right-click on the uninitialized disk and simply click “Initialize Disk.”

Once the disk is initialized and formatting has completed, it will show up in My Computer and you’ll be able to use it normally.

by Travis Bigelow

A leader in the embedded market, Logic Supply offers small form factor systems for a variety of applied industrial computing applications. The company offers a range of pre-configured hardware platforms, system selection services, case customization and branding, and assembly. With teams and offices dedicated to North America, Europe, Asia, and now Latin America, Logic Supply is positioned to serve customers around the world.

“Logic Supply has served Latin American and Caribbean customers for years, and we’ve seen that demand grow over time," said Jeremy Hudson, Director of Sales at Logic Supply. “We established a Latin American team to expand our market, better serve our regional clients, and better fulfill project customer needs,” said Jeremy. “Jairo is fluent in English, Spanish and Portuguese, has a solid hardware background, and has successfully expanded Latin American businesses for several technology companies.”

Originally from Colombia, Jairo has been working in Latin America, as Regional Sales Manager for a number of market-leading technology companies, including System Planning Corporation, Sectrack NV, Visible Genetics and Perkin Elmer Applied Biosystems, among others.

“I am looking forward to facilitating the success of every client and every project by providing my personal support and full access to all our products and engineering services,” said Jairo.

To find out more about Jairo and Logic Supply’s Latin American Division visit our Latin American page.

About Logic Supply

Logic Supply is a specialized systems provider serving the embedded and industrial computing market. With locations in the USA, Europe, and Asia, Logic Supply provides pre-configured small form factor systems, the most comprehensive selection of compatible components, and unique computer hardware. Logic Supply offers turnkey assembly for OEM customers and custom OS development for Windows Embedded Standard and Linux platforms. Through LGX Systems, the company offers custom engineering services and develops innovative, rugged hardware products. Visit the Logic Supply EU website at www.logicsupply.eu.

The “LED” display has been the source of much confusion in the tech world over the past couple of years. There is some clarification due, particularly pertaining to exactly what an LED display is – and why most LED displays on the market today are not true LED displays.

What is a true LED display?

In a true LED display, each pixel is an individual LED – this means that a 1080p LED display would contain over two million LEDs! A common form of true LED display is the OLED (Organic LED) display – in this type of display, light is generated using layers of organic compounds within the pixels themselves. Since each pixel has to be capable of outputting a large number of colors of light, the LEDs in OLED displays are more complicated to manufacture than the run-of-the-mill LEDs that we see on most electronics. OLED displays are more power efficient, brighter, and can reproduce a wider range of colors than currently possible with LCD technology.

OLED displays, although expensive, are slowly becoming available for purchase. At least two major display companies are planning on releasing OLED televisions in 2012, but prices are in the $10,000 range for a 50” screen. Another major electronics company launched a 25” OLED computer monitor last year, with a price of around $30,000 at launch. That same display is currently selling for around $20,000. OLED prices are expected to fall drastically in the coming years, but for now they are far out of the reach of most consumers and industrial users.

What about the “LED” displays for sale at the store?

Many consumer electronics outlets sell “LED” displays – while these displays do utilize LEDs in their design, the screens themselves are still a type of LCD. The “LED” displays that are most commonly found on the market at present are actually LED-Backlit LCD displays. The confusion arises from marketing attempts to simplify the names of these products – it’s much easier to say “LED Display” than to say “LED-Backlit LCD Display.”

An LED-Backlit LCD display is, in most ways, identical to a standard LCD display. The differentiator is the backlight – the light source used to illuminate the pixels on the screen. Because the pixels in an LCD display cannot generate their own light, they need to be illuminated by an external light source in order to remain visible. This is accomplished by placing some sort of light behind the LCD panel – traditionally, this has been a CCFL (Cold Cathode Fluorescent Light). A LED-Backlit LCD uses bright white LED lights instead.

There are many advantages to using an LED as a backlight for an LCD display. LEDs are more power-efficient than CCFL, so an LED-backlit LCD will generally draw less power than a CCFL-backlit LCD of the same size. LEDs are also capable of outputting light which is closer to being perfectly white – a factor which is important for being able to accurately reproduce colors. Longevity can also be taken into account – the MTBF of an LED is generally much longer than that of a CCFL, so failures caused by worn-out backlights will be less common with LED backlit displays.

While LED-Backlit displays on the market today are still using LCD technology, they still provide many advantages over the old CCFL-Backlit LCDs and should not be written off simply because they aren’t a true LED display.

by Travis Bigelow

The Jetway NF99 motherboard is a good example of a board which has had multiple revisions to its BIOS, which have both improved reliability and added functionality. This tutorial will use the NF99 as an example on BIOS flashing – different motherboards may require very slight alterations to the procedure.

Flashing the BIOS on the NF99

The first step in flashing the BIOS on an NF99 is to look at the BIOS section of that motherboard’s page on the manufacturer’s website. Visit the board’s product page here - click BIOS to enter the appropriate section of that page.

It is highly advisable to use the DOS version of the BIOS flashing utility whenever possible – the Windows versions should be avoided, as they are notorious for causing problems.

Download the DOS version of the BIOS – BF99AA09.zip. Extract that .zip file to a folder on your computer. Notice that the BIOS flashing utility – AFUD431.EXE – was provided inside of that .zip file, negating the need to download the utility separately from the NF99 web page. AFUD431 is the program which can be run from DOS in order to apply the BIOS update to the motherboard.

The other files you will now have are BF99AA09.ROM and BF99AA09.BAT – the .ROM file is the actual BIOS for the NF99 motherboard, and the .BAT file is a DOS batch file which tells the utility (AFUD431) which .ROM file to apply to the motherboard.

Before going any further, you will need to create a DOS boot disk for your computer to boot from. This can be done, for free, on any computer with access to the internet as long as you have some sort of storage media available. A hard drive, USB flash stick, CD-R/RW, or even a 3.5” floppy disk will work. For instructions on creating a DOS boot disk, see Booting DOS from a USB Drive.

Once you have a DOS boot disk, copy the files which you extracted from BF99A09.zip to it. You now have a bootable DOS disk with a copy of the A09 BIOS for the NF99 mainboard and the BIOS flashing utility on it.

At this point, you will have to shut down your computer and boot it up from the DOS disc that you just created. Once inside of DOS, simply type in BF99AA09 and press the Enter key. The AFUD431 utility will run, and will automatically start flashing the BF99AA09 ROM file to your motherboard.

When the BIOS update is finished, you will be left at the DOS prompt again with the message “Program ended normally”. The BIOS has now been updated, and you can remove the DOS boot disk, reboot the system, and resume using it.

Digital signage comes in many forms, not just trains, planes or automobiles, but on factory floors and warehouses, office spaces and more. Needless to say, the equipment behind them needs to be reliable in order to deliver a consistent message to the end user.

At Logic Supply we offer a wide array of reliable systems built specifically for digital signage. Take for example our new LGX Extended Temperature Atom D2550 AU145 Rugged Computer, a reliable system with a small footprint and extended temperature range designed to be a small computer that lasts. It delivers a turn-key, go-anywhere solution without compromising performance or features.

Key features:

• Latest Atom Cedarview technology with the D2550 processor and the GMA3650 integrated graphics card offering plenty of processing power for industrial signage applications.
• I/O choices, including dual COM, dual LAN, and dual display, combined with an extended temperature range of -25~55 Celsius, creates an industrial ‘Jack of all trades.’
• The system carries CE & FCC certification, passing regulatory hurdles out of the box.

The AU145 offers plenty of processing power for industrial signage applications, in a small, fanless, extended temperature range system. The processor is capable of driving HD multimedia, and the system offers two DVI ports for dual displays and a pair of independent audio line-out jacks. With its small footprint, dustproof design, and operating temperature range of -25~55 Celsius, this computer can power displays outside of temperature controlled environments.

This robust system is designed for a wide range of environments and applications. It is a versatile offering for places such as warehouses, train stations, factories and more. For more information on this product, visit the LGX AU145 product page or visit our Digital Signage page for more recommendations.

Key features:

“The LGX AU145 is a reliable system with a small footprint and extended temperature range and is designed to be a smaller solution that lasts longer”, said JP Ishaq, Product Manager for Logic Supply. “This system delivers a rugged, turn-key, go-anywhere solution without compromising performance or features.”

The system is built on the Intel Atom Cedarview platform. With the D2550 processor and the GMA3650 integrated graphics card, it offers plenty of processing power for industrial signage applications, in a small, fanless, extended temperature range system.

The system offers versatile I/O with two Gigabit ethernet ports, four USB 2.0 ports and two RJ45 COM ports, one of which also supports RS-232/422/485 protocols. There is a SD card slot for externally accessible storage, and two antenna holes on either side. Inside is space for a standard 2.5” SSD and a PCI express mini card slot for use with a wireless card.

This robust system is designed for a wide range of environments and applications. “The system is well suited for customers needing out-of-the-box CE/FCC certification, as well as those with demanding digital signage projects,” says Jeremy Hudson, Director of Sales at Logic Supply. “The processor is capable of driving HD multimedia, and the system offers two DVI ports for dual displays and a pair of independent audio line-out jacks. With its small footprint, dustproof design, and operating temperature range of -25~55 Celsius, the LGX AU145 can power displays outside of temperature controlled environments. We see it as a versatile offering for places such as warehouses, train stations, and factories.”

About Logic Supply
Logic Supply is a specialized systems provider serving the embedded and industrial computing market. With locations in the USA, Europe, and Asia, Logic Supply provides pre-configured small form factor systems, the most comprehensive selection of compatible components, and unique computer hardware. Logic Supply offers turnkey assembly for OEM customers and custom OS development for Windows Embedded Standard and Linux platforms. Through LGX Systems, the company offers custom engineering services and develops innovative, rugged hardware products. Visit the Logic Supply website at www.logicsupply.eu.

The appeal of this new CPU clearly isn't for its performance; rather, it's for users who may not need anything more than an Atom for processing power, but might need access to some of the latest features in the 7-series chipsets, including SATA III, USB 3.0, or support for three independent displays. Or, maybe, they just need more available RAM or Linux or 64-bit graphics drivers, which aren't currently supported on the latest Intel Atom processors. Add to that the extended production lifecycle (7 years), and you have a great cost-effective, long life option.

Recently, a major communications semiconductor corporation needed a system to perform internal network traffic monitoring, and came to us looking for a solution with the following requirements:

• -Single-core Intel Atom CPU or better
• -2GB-4GB of RAM (max supported by CPU)
• -2x PCI Express slots (OR 1x if 4x GbE can be accommodated on the mainboard)
• -4x GbE ports (onboard or via 2nd PCI Express slot)
• -Rackmount preferred

The Challenge

It was easy to meet the CPU and RAM requirements. However, the challenge was that any components on the bottom of the mainboard, or a tall audio port stack, can make a board incompatible with every 1U rackmount chassis. Also, the 4x GbE and PCIe can create a real challenge, as most Mini-ITX boards only have one PCI or PCI Express slot, and having more than 2x LAN ports on a board is rare.

The Solution

Although their CPU requirements were minimal, Intel has intentionally limited its Atom lineup so as not to cannibalize Celeron and Pentium chips. This, unfortunately, means that they are limited to just four PCIe lanes, which eliminates them from contention, as the solution started with a requirement of a minimum of twenty PCIe lanes (4x for GbE, 16x for add-in card). Therefore, we used the Intel DQ77KB which has an x4 slot, along with the requisite PCI Express Mini Card and dual GbE ports.

Without onboard NICs, we used expansion but needed the PCIe slot for the customer’s proprietary card. Using ADMPEIDLA, Jetway’s PCI Express Mini Card, allowed us to add 2x GbE ports from the PCIe Mini Card slot. We then needed to find a board with 2x GbE onboard, mPCIe, and a PCIe slot. After confirming with the customer that an x4 slot would be fast enough but that they needed an x16 slot for the physical connection, we added the EXP4-797-10 flexible riser card, and had our board.

The DQ77KB has onboard power. In itself, this isn’t a big deal usually, but for rackmounts it can be a bit messy with the external AC/DC brick. So, we had to work something out that would allow a standard C14 connector on the system to go straight to an AC outlet. The DQ77KB did not fit in a 1U rackmount case, so we opted to use the LGX MK150 Expandable Rackmount Case. With a 1.5U chassis it was high enough to fit the brick inside. In addition to fabricating the custom bracket to hold the AC/DC brick inside the case, we made a cable to adapt the DC barrel connector to the 2-pin connector on the board. This allowed the customer to plug a standard 6′ AC power cable into the back of the case without an external brick. As part of the build process, our assembly technicians block the on-board DC barrel connector with both sheet metal and stickers to prevent the unit from accidentally being powered by two sources.

So there you have your “semi-custom COTS” solution – stock motherboard, expansion card and riser, power supply, and CPU and cooler with reliable availability, short lead times, and no up-front engineering fees or minimum order quantities. The only truly custom piece is the AC/DC brick bracket, and the associated build instructions. Because Logic Supply owns the IP for the bracket, we can work with different manufacturers to scale production to meet the customer’s lead time and cash flow needs.

Although we can’t build this system on the front-end of our website because of the complex inter-dependencies of the various components, we created a custom SKU on the backend. This allows the customer to quickly and easily order the same, consistent product each time, effectively building in some additional revision control safeguards.

If you’ve got a project that you can’t find a solution for, give our Technical Sales Team a call at (802)-861-2300 ext. 1 to see what they can configure for you, or post your requirements below and we can get you started in the right direction.

If an embedded engineer wants to use an ARM-based system, s/he will not only need to design the application software, but likely the board, kernel, board support package (BSP), OS, and middleware. This is because, unlike x86, there are very few standards connecting all these pieces, and compatibility is highly specific to the hardware being used. Even if the engineer selects an off-the-shelf board with a BSP provided by the manufacturer, like the Snowball, PandaBoard, or BeagleBoard, the engineer will still have to merge those hardware-specific patches and distribution-specific patches into the mainline kernel. Once that’s done, they will need to build the operating system with all of the specific file system, configuration, and middleware information. Only then can they install their operating system, and begin the debug process.

This is quite a lengthy and arduous process compared to the relative ease of installing an operating system on x86 system. All this usually requires is installing a standard operating system from a CD or USB stick, running an automatic update program, and installing the application software. Occasionally, you will have to manually install hardware drivers, but this is relatively simple as most manufacturers provide installers. So, to justify the extra development work required for ARM, you would need to either see a significant savings on the hardware, or be able to sell enough units to spread the per-unit cost to a reasonable level.

Having said this, we may see a shift in ARM-based system development with the release of Windows 8 RT. Rumors suggest that Microsoft may be locking down some of the hardware requirements, which would make it significantly easier to integrate, and would allow for faster, more cohesive updates across a broader spectrum of devices than we currently see with smartphones and tablets based on Android. In other words, if Microsoft is able to remove the current barriers to development on ARM, we could see the embedded market moving toward the platform for minimal performance needs, thermal concerns, and packaging advantages. Until then, though, these boards will continue to be driven by hobbyist communities, and engineers without resources dedicated to platform development will continue to leverage the compatibility, time-to-market, and professional support advantages of x86.

Today I have a desk job (which is probably for the better) at a company that builds and sells embedded computers. With an assembly department right downstairs, I get to see first hand how we build and test our industrial and embedded computers.

Though building a computer may seem like a breeze, a lot goes into the process and one should have extensive technical knowledge to take on the task. Our systems are small and specialized so when you select the assembly and validate option, it allows us to focus on building the system so you don’t have to.

Follow Chris Hovious, our Assembly Team Manager at Logic Supply, as he walks through how to build the SolidLogic Core i5/i7 Rackmount System.

Our assembly and validation process includes a thorough validation process that fully evaluates hardware compatibility and guarantees a functioning unit upon delivery. Each product that is selected for assembly and validation undergoes a rigorous testing process with our proprietary testing software and experienced team of computer technicians. Some of the things we test include the following:

• I/O ports – I/O ports – LAN, USB (front and back), PS2, DVI and/or VGA ports
• If the mainboard has DVI only, we use a DVI-to-VGA adapter to test the signal.
• CD-ROM and HDD functions – HDD is recognized and tested and receives a full surface S.M.A.R.T. scan
• Memory controller
• Thermal testing to ensure all components perform at maximum operating temperatures
• Audio drivers are installed and tested (if OS is installed)
• Mainboard BIOS to make sure it is the latest version

As you can see, quite a bit goes into our build and test process. As with the case in taking apart and putting together my bike, sometimes we’re just better off leaving it with the professionals.

There are a lot of companies that use such expansion options in fanless barebones, such as DFI’s EC300 series, but VIA, Jetway, and Liantec all offer Mini-ITX boards with customizable I/O so you can use them in whatever case you want. While they all vary in configuration and interface, the idea is the same: Have a pared down set of standard I/O, have the right side be no more than half-height (usually by turning the audio stack so it’s horizontal), and add your own I/O above the half-height section. This yields a tremendous amount of flexibility for embedded applications, while leveraging the cost and time-to-market of commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) components.

Here at Logic Supply, we’re big fans of the Jetway system, as we feel it offers the best combination of a full-featured motherboard, reasonable cost, and flexible expansion offerings. Need four LAN in a small, relatively inexpensive box? Try the NF96 with an AD3RTLANP in an M350 chassis. Need those NICs to be GbE, or Intel-brand for compatibility? Upgrade to the AD3INLANG. What about a fanless system with automotive ignition sensing and three RS-232 ports to run a custom Linux distro in a road condition monitoring van? NF99 plus AD4COMCB in a GS-L05 with an M3-ATX power supply. Going in a taxi with a credit card reader, receipt printer, and dual displays with a Windows-based application? Swap the NF99 for the NF9D.

All of those systems use standard, off the shelf components that are in stock and half the cost of what you’d pay for a completely customized board. Plus, there are no engineering fees or large minimum order quantities.

The only downside is that if you want video expansion options, you’re limited to the NF92 motherboard; it requires a second set of pins on a separate bus that none of the other boards have. And, because of the package size of socketed CPUs, current products are limited to Atom processors. With the newer 2-chip packages (Arrandale, Sandy Bridge, Ivy Bridge) though, there should be room on the board to add the daughter card interface. Jetway’s Arrandale and Sandy Bridge boards were more multimedia focused than we’d expected; here’s hoping their Ivy Bridge entry will be a little bit different.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Paired with the GS-L05 Fanless Mini-ITX Case, the NF81 becomes a highly reliable platform capable of driving diverse digital content, such as HD video.

Also, don't miss our Special Discount on GS-L05 and NF81 valid until 26-06-2012! SAVE €90, just enter promotion code FANLESS at checkout.

See the GS-L05 & NF81 System

See the Automotive GS-L05 & NF81 System

Since the day we caught word of Intel’s new Cedar View processors, we’ve been itching to start playing with them and getting them into the hands of our customers. Launch day has finally arrived, so we’re showing off a very special mainboard from Intel that’s helping usher in this new generation. The DN2800MT is here, and it’s ready to expand upon what the D945GSEJT started: the Thin-ITX form factor.

Several key features of this board are apparent as soon as one lays eyes upon it. A second PCIe Mini Card connector has been added, one of which is configurable as mSATA. The legacy PCI slot has disappeared and been replaced with a 1x speed PCI Express slot—not only does this provide more bandwidth for peripherals, but the smaller size of the connector will be greatly appreciated by those without a lot of physical space at their disposal.

A second SO-DIMM slot has been added, so users are no longer limited to a single RAM module like they were in the case of the Johnstown board. The DN2800MT will accept up to 4 GB of DDR3 at speeds up to 1066 MHz—providing both double the memory capacity and double the bandwidth of its predecessor. The board has two SATA 3 Gb/sec. connectors, with a SATA power connector located conveniently between them, which makes routing the internal cables that much easier. In addition to LVDS, the board also sports an Embedded DisplayPort connector, which is situated on the bottom of the PCB.

Taking a look at the rear I/O of the board, we find a barrel jack, four USB, VGA, Gigabit LAN, HDMI, and audio in/out. The barrel jack here is a little more flexible than most when it comes to the voltages it’s compatible with, happily accepting anywhere between 12 and 19 volts. The internal power connector (which is still located behind the barrel jack) takes the form of a space saving 2-pin connector and is compatible with the same voltage range.

Being a genuine Thin-ITX board, the DN2800MT comes with two flavors of I/O shield: there is a standard ATX-compatible shield and an actual Thin-ITX I/O shield for use in slim cases. This is an improvement over the Johnstown, which had Thin-ITX’s low-profile rear I/O ports but only came with a run-of-the-mill ATX-sized I/O shield. Both shields have a mysterious looking rectangular punch-out above the HDMI and audio in/out holes. Investigation reveals that it lines up with the board’s configurable PCIe Mini Card slot, and it’s there to enable use of an ExpressCard/34 adapter. Imaginations are running wild here with thoughts of the removable devices that could take advantage of this, with pictures of USB 3.0, network, and COM add-in cards dancing around in our heads.

Two of the USB 2.0 ports on the rear of the board stand out from the others with brilliant yellow connectors. The choice of color here wasn’t just for aesthetics—the yellow signifies that these are high-current USB ports, which have are capable of outputting more amperage than standard USB 2.0 ports. This could allow one to ditch the “wall wart” style power adapters found with some larger USB peripherals, with all the required power for compatible devices being drawn from the USB ports themselves.

The Intel N2800 CPU is impressive in its own right. It’s a dual-core 32 nm part that has 1 MB of cache and Hyperthreading, humming along at 1.86 GHz while sipping only 6.5 W of electricity. It talks to the NM10 PCH chip via a 2.5 GT/s DMI link, and the onboard Intel GMA graphics controller has a base frequency of 640 MHz, which is capable of driving displays at resolutions up to 1920x1200. The NM10 PCH itself draws only 2.1 W of power, resulting in a combined CPU+chipset draw of 8.6 W. Compare this to an 11.8 W combined TDP for the main chips on the Johnstown board: 945GSE Northbridge at 6 W, with a 3.3 W ICH7 Southbridge, and the 2.5 W Atom N270.

All this talk of power savings and performance increases warrants some benchmarking. Pitting the DN2800MT against the D945GSEJT in a Kill-A-Watt monitored PCMark05 benchmark, we came up with a score of 1513 for the Johnstown and 2089 for the Marshalltown (the higher number being better) while testing with default settings. The DN2800MT hovered at around 12 W during most of the test, with a low of 10 and a peak of 15. The older D945GSEJT board spent most of its time around 17 W, with a few spikes up to the 20 W mark and a low of 13.

Both benchmarks were performed using Seasonic 12 V, 60 W AC adapters with a Level 5 power efficiency rating, and wattage was measured at the wall using a Kill-a-Watt. Both boards were using 32-bit versions of Windows 7 Pro. The only deviation (besides the mainboards) between the hardware in the two systems was the RAM: the Johnstown board was using a 2 GB module of DDR2 800, while the Marshalltown was using a 2 GB module of DDR3 1066.

A roughly 30% increase in synthetic benchmark score is nice, but the icing on the cake here is the power savings. The Marshalltown achieved its higher score while having a similar percentage of power savings—averaging 5 to 6 W lower than the Johnstown, or roughly one third less juice. Both boards were booting off of 2.5” 7200rpm hard drives during testing. If we had used solid-state drives instead (perhaps some Emphase SATA flash modules), then wattage would have been even lower across the board.

It’s always nice to start off the new year with some cool new hardware. The DN2800MT hasn’t fallen short here, and we’re very excited to see what kinds of new projects it’s going to enable. What projects would you use the new Marshalltown board for? Please share your ideas with us in the comments!

Protected by a durable metal housing, the G3 series features single-level cell (SLC) flash chips for faster transfer rates, greater reliability, and more efficient energy consumption than their multi-level cell (MLC) counterparts. Intended for the rigors of industrial applications, the G3 series are rated to operate in temperatures ranging from 0~70 degrees Celsius and withstand vibration of up to 20 G.

It's hard not to get excited over the G3 series, which goes a long way toward bridging the gap between typical SLC solutions and their more affordable MLC counterparts without forcing customers to sacrifice reliability. As Thailand continues to suffer the effects of tragic flooding in Asia, traditional platter-based hard drives are becoming scarce while their costs rise, making SSDs a more practical choice than ever.

The Emphase G3 series puts performance and reliability first, ensuring a durable and fast storage solution for demanding industrial applications. They also happen to look good doing it.

The impact has been immediate and has manifested itself through price increases ranging from 50% to 100%+ along with market shortages and limits on the quantity of drives allowed to be purchased by an individual consumer. How this will affect the market in the coming months is unclear, but what does appear to be clear is the fact that this current crisis will only help expedite the migration from mechanical drives to SSDs.

Solid State Drives have taken the crown for performance, power consumption and, at least on paper, reliability. From my perspective, there are two remaining barriers for widespread SSD adoption:  price and capacity - both of which are ever improving. Now that hard disk prices have increased, individuals who are not concerned with capacity have cause for pause to evaluate whether or not the decreased delta in price is worth the plunge.

Have you or the company you work for moved over to flash storage? How has your experience been? If you haven’t, do you feel the current/short term market conditions are enough of a reason to finally migrate?

We spend a lot of time agonizing over the anticipated lifetime of each product, putting a lot of emphasis on Embedded Life Cycles, supplier roadmaps, and anticipated end-of-life dates. Luckily for our industry, most of our suppliers provide long-life offerings aimed specifically at the project market.

Add to the list of long-life products Canonical’s Ubuntu 12.04, slated for a release in April of 2012. It has just been given an expanded LTS (Long Term Support) period of five(!) years, increased from the typical three. That means that through early 2017, enterprise users will still be able to enjoy the same support, even after Ubuntu 14.04 is released in 2014. We often get the question of why we prefer the LTS releases of Ubuntu, and why we still support 10.04 in the face of newer releases such as 11.04 and 11.10. Aside from the obvious advantage of longer support cycles and guaranteed updates, the non-LTS versions tend to innovate more but the LTS products such as 10.04 and the upcoming 12.04 offer users a more stable and predictable application environment.

According to Canonical’s press release, the overwhelming majority of their server users have standardized on Long Term Support releases of their product, and more and more organizations are migrating to Ubuntu. The ability for a developer to standardize on both hardware and software with such extended life cycles is crucial for minimizing the time and costs associated with redeveloping a new platform.

How important is the extended support period of a product to you? Let us know!

Over the years many of us here at Logic Supply have found ourselves in the same position, and our sales team takes this technical consultation to another level with our customers—ranging from consumers to CEOs at publicly traded companies.  And while we would love to talk all day with people about computers and their applications, there is only so many of us. For this reason (along with another notable one: engineers and technical people prefer to do their homework first, then call us), we have worked very hard to provide our customers with the appropriate toolsfor self-selecting the best hardware that is right for them.

We have already been offering such resources for years, and we invested quite a bit of time in revamping them over a year ago. We asked ourselves, “What questions might our customers have in regards to hardware?” Reviewing mainboard specifications is where we spent the bulk of our time, as customers would contact us with the following requests: “I need this level of CPU performance,” or “these I/O ports available.” As a result, our mainboard matrix greets visitors with the ability to view boards by CPU type, as well as an “Advanced  Search” that allows users to filter results by any number of criteria (expansion type, number of LAN, TPM, etc.).

On the case front, most questions revolve around chassis dimensions and the ability to add an expansion card. We have tried to make this as comprehensive as possible by listing case measurements, the maximum accommodated expansion card dimensions, COM port punch outs, front mounted ports, etc.

Having the combination of both case and mainboard matrices, allows us to take a mix and match approach to system creation. It also lets you know if any concessions need to be made when choosing a particular pairing. For instance, a common issue we run into is the positioning of memory interfaces and ATX connectors. When these are installed opposite of the rear I/O of a board we find that the use of an optical drive my no longer be feasible or you may need to use low profile memory. That type of information gets logged and we post it to our matrix. Anyone who has put together their fair share of systems has undoubtedly encountered some random issue with incompatibility of parts. Whether it be front header cables that are too short to reach a board’s headers or having a height restriction for a CPU cooler, compatibility “show stoppers” can dampen any builder’s day.

So I assume that you keep yourself updated on the latest gadgets and gear by visiting various tech sites, but when it comes down to purchasing an exact part or system where do you go to find just what you are looking for? Do you see value in the tools we offer on our site? What features do you like? Do you have any suggestions for improvement? If you haven't used them, please do and let us know what you think!

And yet, here we are in 2011 with our two TB drives full. It's not just a matter of increasing capacity, however; larger drives do actually require larger housings, because there's only so much storage density you can pack on a platter (or a flash chip, for SSD users). In traditional spinning platter drives, additional platters are needed to increase capacity beyond a certain point. This, in turn, increases the height of the drive. For space-constrained applications (which many embedded applications are), there is not a lot of room to grow. Certain 1-U rackmount cases, for instance, will have a hard time accommodating taller drives, and most hot-swap trays aren't set up to accept unusually-sized drives.

Enter household table salt. In a brilliant move or possibly an accident that proves it's OK to eat in the lab despite OSHA warnings, a Singapore research team led by Dr. Joel Yang have refined a process for increasing hard drive density sixfold. The secret ingredient? You guessed it: sodium chloride.

It's a simple and elegant solution, really. The inclusion of salt crystals in solution during the lithography process of platter manufacturing causes the bit cells to align in a more regular and dense fashion, amplifying capacity from 0.5 Terabits/in2 to 3.3 Terabits/in2.

For more details, read the Singapore Agency for Science, Technology, and Research's press release. Thanks to the good folks at The Register for spreading the word.

The performance you'll get with these cards is greatly enhanced, due to the fact that they use the SATA bus interface and not the PATA/IDE bus used by older CompactFlash products. No longer held back by the transfer rate limitations of IDE (which offered maximum speeds capped at 133 MB/s), new SATA devices can support transfer rates up to 6 Gb/s. These Emphase CFast devices feature 3 Gb/s data transfer rates, offering a substantial step up from previous CF cards. Read and write speeds also see a jump, with the 16 and 32 GB capacities offering 120 and 110 MB/s read and write speeds, respectively.

Additional specifications for these cards include:

• *Endurance: Unlimited read cycles; 2,000,000 Program/Erase cycles
• *MTBF: >4,000,000 hr.
• *Vibration: 20 G (7 ~ 2,000 Hz) (max.)
• *Shock: 1500 G/0.5 ms (max.)
• *Operating temperature range: 0°C ~ 70°C and -40°C ~ 85°C for wide temp versions
• *10-year data retention
• *S.M.A.R.T. Health Monitoring supported
• *Hot-swap capability for rapid data exchange

So, now that you know what these are, where can you stick them?

We already have a few mainboards and systems that can support these cards via onboard CFast slots, including the PT912 and AU912 Extreme Environment Core i5/i7 Arrandale Fanless Systems. You're not limited to onboard support, though: the CFast-100 adapter can be used and mounted in any enclosure with a PCI slot with a board offering SATA and SATA power.

The hot-swap functionality allows the drive to be ejected using the Windows device manager utility or Ubuntu Unmount command while the system is still running (provided the OS is installed to a different drive). The next card can then be installed and, voilà!, a new drive is detected. This feature is great for servers and rackmount applications where externally accessible storage is desired.

Compact, reliable, and convenient to use, CFast will make your next embedded OS install so happy.

Mini-ITX has shown tremendous versatility, as we have seen a slew of different CPUs paired with this form factor. Everything from 1-watt AMD Geodes to 95-watt Quad Core Desktop processors have graced the form factor we have all grown to love. Companies like MSI have even pushed the envelope on some board iterations to include PCI Express x16, x1 and traditional PCI expansion slots all on a board that measures just 17 x 17 cm. This type of flexibility has allowed Mini-ITX to spill out of the Industrial market and into the consumer market, something that other small form factors haven’t been able to do.

The challenge with going to anything smaller seems mostly to do with the compromises that have to be made. You lose important I/O real estate, chips tend to get cramped and as a result heat becomes more of an issue, and then there is the added cost of producing a smaller board. The outcome is that manufacturers have to make difficult choices in terms of I/O, CPU, expandability, and market price to ensure that their engineering efforts produce a board that is appealing and cost effective. The same challenges exist in the supporting ecosystem for these smaller alternatives, as there is no standard back plane for these boards. This limitation proves to be a deterrence for case manufacturers to build any compatible enclosures around these boards. Their only option is to build something specific for just a single board, which is obviously quite a gamble.

If there was a form factor currently available that would be a viable alternative for people looking to cut down on size and not sacrifice too much in the process, 3.5” or Intel’s original Embedded Compact Extended (ECX) would be it. This PCB size seems to strike the balance of features and size better than other sub Mini-ITX platforms, as we have seen options for full size expansion slots and more plentiful I/O. Not to mention that the I/O is generally already pre-populated with a physical interface as opposed to other embedded boards that rely on break out cables to utilize I/O off of headers.

While I believe that the widespread adoption of smaller form factors is inevitable with cloud adoption, I don’t see the Mini-ITX form factor poised to be over shadowed by any other form factor in this segment for quite some time.

Let us know what you think. Does ECX have lasting appeal and should it make up more of our product line?

Being an artist, I have an immense appreciation for artistry—in all forms. Working in the technology field, I have an even greater admiration for sound design. And, having my roots as a writer, I just love alliteration. So you can imagine how excited I must be to announce an aesthetically pleasing (I could hang this on my wall), feature-rich and well constructed system that offers up a tongue twister right in its name. The Nuvo-1003B and Nuvo-1005B are extended temperature range, fanless systems providing broad I/O capabilities and a sleek, polished design.

Both systems are equally capable of managing high-end industrial applications (and come with the functionality to prove it) as well as demanding image processing ones. The difference between these two units is LAN count: the 3B has three Intel NICs while the 5B has, that's right, five Intel NICs. Both support Intel Active Management (IAMT), which makes it easier for businesses to remotely support, manage, and upgrade their computer systems. Please note that to use IAMT, the software you're using must support that functionality.

Platform Features

The Nuvo systems pair high-end Intel Core i5/i7 mobile processing with a low-profile, rugged fanless chassis. Designed to reliably perform under strenuous conditions, the units have an operating temperature range of -25°C~70°C, high shock/vibration resistance, and wide input power supply (DC 8~26 V). The finish of the enclosure is a pearl matte, almost satin like, which stands up incredibly well against fingerprints and other handling.

• - 1x PCI Express Mini Card slot and 1x SIM card socket for easy networking device expansion
• - 1x CF slot type II for embedded OS installation


• Front panel access includes -
• - 6x USB 2.0 ports
• - 2x PS2 ports mouse/keyboard
• - 2x eSATA ports
• - 1x DVI-D port
• - 1x VGA port
• - 1x LAN port
• - Power button and reset button

• Back panel access includes -
• - 3x RS-232 COM ports
• - 1x RS-232/422/485 COM port
• - 4x LAN ports
• - 1x 4-pin terminal block power connector (with remote power switch function)

The design of the system is geared toward quick and easy HDD and RAM installation; however installing the processor is a bit of a journey. That just might be the only critique of the overall design: there are six screws on each face of the unit that must be removed before accessing the CPU. Once these are taken out, the enclosure opens up like carefully unfolded origami.

And, just like origami, make a note of the folds so you can re-assemble it without too much of a headache.

Stay tuned for more information on these systems, along with a more in-depth product review to come!

]]> Thu, 08 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.logicsupply.fr/news/intel-cedar-trail-details-trickle-out/ As with a big movie release, Intel has been keeping the teasers coming regarding the upcoming Cedar Trail mainboards. They've been stingy with the details, preferring to leave the spoilers until the boards are closer to rolling out, allegedly some time in Q4 of this year.

A couple months back, the good folks at Fudzilla unearthed some info on the upcoming boards, and more recently they provided some details on the lack of USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/sec. In the IPC field, there's still not a huge demand for these features; we're more interested in the next generation of ultra-low-power processors offering dual-core Atom performance with 1080p playback capabilities.

Like a bloodhound, Logic Supply product manager Tony Fiset has sniffed out a support page on Intel's website referencing the different board models. This mostly just confirmed Fudzilla's claims, with one notable exception: Based on Intel's usual naming scheme, the "Marshalltown" board appears to use the low power N2800 CPU instead of the D2x00. This is likely due to the low-profile heat sink that is necessary to take advantage of the Thin-ITX I/O.

Look for more info soon regarding the following Intel Desktop boards:

• D2500CC
• D2500HN
• D2500HND
• D2700DC
• D2700MU
• D2700MUD
• N2800MT Marshalltown

For now, click here to visit the page.

A number of methods exist for keeping a system’s temperature down. The most familiar to end users will be the dedicated cooling fan. Either in the case or on the board itself, fans provide air flow within the case via mechanical convection, moving air over and away from heat-generating components through vents in the chassis. The drawback to this tried-and-true method for cooling traditional computer systems is noise. Among low-power systems, a simple heat sink is often enough, provided there is adequate ambient airflow through the case.

For many industrial and mobile applications, systems are expected to operate in hot and dusty or vibration-prone environments where fans are impractical. Fans require ventilation, exposing the system to dust and debris; furthermore, fans are delicate, and fan failure due to vibration or clogging would result in unacceptable downtime of the system. In the past, users in harsher environments were stuck with off-the-shelf desktops, which were limited by size and ventilation constraints, and which were prone to failure. In recent years, these suboptimal solutions have given way to a new breed of purpose-built fanless systems: rugged, reliable, and able to withstand temperatures and environments that their predecessors could not. In such fanless or passively-cooled systems, a heat sink or heat pipe pulls heat away from the chips on the board, putting them in contact with "fins" on the surface of the case.

So what are the fins for? Effective dissipation of heat in passively-cooled systems requires surface area. Adding ridges to the case exterior provides more usable cooling space, essentially turning the whole chassis into a giant heat sink. This is one of the reasons fanless systems are often hot to the touch, and why they should be: the delicate components on the inside are what need to be kept cool. The surface area factor is also why there is a limit to how small fanless systems can be, and where they can be installed. There is a point at which an enclosure becomes too small to provide adequate surface area, and a fanless case must be supplemented with ventilation. Even with enough dissipative area, heat still needs somewhere to go. To get the most out of these specialized systems, there must be some degree of air flow across the surface of the case.

The effectiveness of a system's cooling is only part of the solution. A common misconception is that any small form factor board is a candidate for fanless, embedded deployment. It’s true that Mini-ITX and other small form factors were developed for ultra-low power embedded systems. The obvious benefit of a smaller footprint offering all the features and functionality of a full-sized desktop has led to more mainstream boards featuring desktop-based processors for consumer applications. They make an appealing proposition: who wouldn't want more performance in less space? These processors may offer higher performance than embedded and low-power options, but it comes at the expense of a significantly hotter package requiring more energy to run. As a result, we typically shy away from deploying desktop-based boards in fanless enclosures, where the risks of overheating and component failure are magnified by a hotter CPU. Enthusiast-grade performance deserves enthusiast-grade cooling, most of which is only available in consumer enclosures which do not meet the criteria of small footprint, quiet, discreet, or rugged.

Luckily, low-power embedded boards are rapidly approaching the performance point at which there is very little tradeoff between them and desktop-based models. The new Sandy Bridge Mobile products from Intel are paving the way for a higher-performance generation of energy-efficient products. Lower-TDP packages intended for use in fanless or rackmount systems will continue to lead the way in industrial computing; they’ll just get more powerful.

Interested in learning more about our fanless systems or trying one on for size? Check out the Fanless System section on our website to see the range of available platforms.

Great, the PC is behaving less and less like the old familiar PC we've come to both love and mildly dislike at times. Even within our office here, we've been transitioning over to Google Docs and I've already felt the chains of one-computing-space oppression being lifted. I can save and edit my document from anywhere: Freedom, you smell like warm cinnamon buns. Many of the advancements within the consumer PC market have been to slim down the physical computer and bring everything to a simple Web browsing interface in an effort to de-clutter your life from windows and file systems. Topolsky closes his article with this inspiring statement, "We’ve crossed over from a long, slow evolution to an explosive revolution in what a computer is and how you use it — and there’s no looking back." I answer back "Yes, yes, yes! Show me the Web!"

But wait, what about industrial and embedded computing? All this sounds like a utopian world that only half of the inhabitants get to share. There's a fairly large portion of us who have to stand outside in the cold, enviously peering in at young, happy consumers carelessly tapping away at their shiny, palm-sized gadgets and gizmos of pearly white and sable black. Sigh. Why are we still using PS2 ports? While the personal computer makes light-speed advances for well, personal use, the industrial and embedded world seems to be stuck with a busted hyperdrive. This is the nature of computing within this space.

Topolsky's statement that our usage of computers has changed and will continue to completely change can still be applied here, though. Maybe we're not heading into the Cloud just yet, but we're moving out of the scope of traditional industrial and embedded systems. Many of our customers are placing computers in locations that until recently, were only seen in those locations in Hollywood films about the future. But these computers are very much typical computing machines, and rely on tangible storage devices like IDE hard drives (say what?), optical drives and operating systems like Windows XP. We're not on the heels of the consumer technology market, we're treading in its settled dust.

And all this makes perfect sense. Consumers are agile. Businesses can be slow to adapt. As we get excited about the latest technological advancements, we ultimately know it might be awhile until we see those materialize on an industrial motherboard. Let the consumers be the guinea pigs. We'll patiently wait for them to work the kinks out. And this is quite true, as we've seen with Intel's Sandy Bridge "not a recall."

To bring an alternate viewpoint, say a more positive edge to all this, I would like to consider the industrial and embedded computing space's revolution. Again, it might not be entirely to the Cloud just yet, but we're quickly advancing nonetheless. Our computer systems continue to get smaller and more efficient with each processing platform innovation. Flash storage devices and embedded OS's allow us to slim down the footprint even further. Our computers might not be sleek and glossy, but they don't look like computers either. They get tucked under taxi drivers' seats, they get mounted in the ceilings of grocery stores, they get installed on the walls of meat processing facilities and then hosed off (yum), and they get to take flight in helicopters. Wireless functionality and compatibility with DC power sources enables remote deployments where systems are in harsh environments, collecting data all day. No need for human operators; we can sit back and relax in the Cloud.

The real question for us is no longer "Can I put a computer there?" but "Why not put a computer there?" If our technology allows us to think long term, to imagine a future where computers are not breakable, throwaway devices meant to last about a year before the next best thing comes out, but durable, solid (and super small), stand-alone machines that expertly manage a single task, then why not strap a computer to a unmanned aircraft to collect vital information in environments potentially unsafe for humans? (By the way, our computers are being used in unmanned vehicles.)

In the end, I don't think our future looks so different from the one Topolsky describes. Industrial and embedded technologies may lag behind consumer technologies so that it appears that our paths are diverging. As usual, though, the consumer market is just leading the way while we take a different (albeit longer) path to revolution.

Come on in, it's spacious and cool inside

Powering up

Fitting in

At Logic Supply, we’re committed to innovation both from ourselves and our suppliers. That’s why the intrepid Alice, from our Taipei Procurement office, is braving the maze of booths and neon to bring us word of the latest developments from around the world. 2011 has already proved to be an exciting year, with the releases of AMD’s Fusion and Intel’s Sandy Bridge, as well as significant innovations in Flash Storage. And to think, we’re only halfway through!

Look for updated impressions from our Computex visit soon, and check back soon for Alice’s photos!

Picture Gallery

The arrival of Emphase’s new S7 SSD solves two critical issues that have plagued flash storage: performance degradation over time and the accelerated aging of the device. Because boosted transfer speeds and longevity are two of the principal reasons for making the transition to flash storage in the first place, resolving issues that impact those features is critical.

Data transfer speeds vary greatly between industrial flash storage products, and while performance degrades over time, many users aren’t aware of the cause, or how big an impact it can actually have. The significance of an advanced feature like TRIM might not be evident until performance loss is examined and understood. There are two primary reasons for read/write speed degradation in flash storage devices: the way deleted files are handled and method of writing versus erasing data.

When a command is given to erase a file, the cells containing the data are not actually erased at the time of the command. Instead, the cells are marked as needing to be erased (better known as “stale data”) but are not actually wiped clean until that space is needed to store new data down the road. When that space is needed in the future, all that lightning fast read/write performance will have to stand by while the controller takes out old trash prior to writing the new data. This is the point at which drops in transfer rates are noticeable, and it’s not a temporary rut but a mode of operation. Cumulatively, the problem becomes even more worrisome: a new flash drive actually fills up entirely before it begins deleting the files that have been marked for erasure.

That’s where TRIM and the Emphase S7 SSD come in. TRIM enables communication between the OS and the flash device regarding which blocks of data have been marked for deletion. The OS and the drive firmware work in tandem to distinguish stale data. TRIM then streamlines the rewriting process, writing new data and erasing stale data simultaneously. The functionality is similar to that of the insert button on a keyboard, which allows the user to type a new character while erasing the space in front of it in one action. The long-term result of this simultaneous program/erasure is that performance is optimized and drive longevity is enhanced.

It’s worth noting the distinction between TRIM and garbage collection (GC). The goal of GC, a feature on all flash drives, is to create free space ahead of time so that future writes to the drive can be done more efficiently. This is accomplished by the drive working in the background to erase files that have been marked as stale and combine data that is still good, essentially defragmenting when the drive is idle. Unfortunately, GC is a costly method of storage management, as it spends the cells’ limited program/erase cycles, thereby accelerating the degradation of read/write speeds and overall lifetime due to write amplification. By working efficiently, TRIM accomplishes the same result with less impact to drive longevity, while also optimizing performance by minimizing write amplification.

With the availability of TRIM on the new line of Emphase S7 Series SSDs, IPC users can rest easy knowing that their storage drives will work better for longer. It's important to note that in order to utilize TRIM, the OS will need to support the command. For this you will need to be running Windows 7, Linux 2.6.33, Windows Server 2008 R2, OpenSolaris, or Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion). Enabling TRIM is easy to do and instructions can be found with a simple web search (be sure to include the OS you are running).

Additionally, all clients can enjoy same-day shipping on orders received before 1700 Greenwich Mean Time +1 Hour. Please contact us for details at info@logicsupply.nl. ]]> Fri, 14 Jan 2011 20:56:45 +0000 http://www.logicsupply.fr/news/intel-sandy-bridge-preview/ The names may be familiar, but don’t mistake the new Intel Core i3, i5, and i7 processors for their Nehalem predecessors. These new processors, built on Intel’s so-fresh-it’s-still-green Sandy Bridge processor microarchitecture, still feature familiar performance enhancements like Intel Turbo Boost and Hyper-Threading, but they’ve been pumped up even further for noticeable increases in processing.

Intel has also gone and pushed the GPU onto the same die as the processor, speeding things up while keeping things cool. This increased power efficiency means that multiple cores can be overclocked at once using Turbo Boost, as well as providing brief boosts when CPU load increases drastically, all while keeping energy consumption, and therefore your Total Cost of Ownership, down.

Huron River is the mobile chipset configuration of the Sandy Bridge architecture, and we’ll be seeing those later this quarter, so keep your eyes peeled! Between Intel’s new architecture and the AMD Brazos platform, now is an exciting time for digital signage and image processing-intensive application providers.

AMD is releasing the Fusion to the mobile and embedded market as the Brazos platform, and it comes in two flavors: the ultra-low power single- and dual-core Ontario processors, which require only 9 watts of power, and the Zacate processors, which offer dual-core processing yet require only 18 watts.

All indications are that the Brazos platform will be a real winner, based on benchmarking tests that show it pulling ahead of Intel’s Atom processors, namely the D510. Between the Brazos platform and Intel’s upcoming Sandy Bridge platform, this is a great time for the digital signage market and other image processing-intensive applications. The first AMD Fusion Brazos boards should be arriving at our store later this quarter!

News Update: This morning AMD released a product brief and press release for their new Fusion G-Series of processors for embedded systems. Click for the press release.

You can also view the product brief in PDF format here.

They’re a great alternative to standard expansion cards, which take up more room than many small form factor systems can afford. The add-on module runs parallel to the board, mounting the extra ports to the backplate of the mainboard, so it doesn't take up any more space than needed. We offer from one to three extra Gb LAN port modules, as well as an RS-232/422/482 COM module featuring two back panel ports and two pin headers. If you have a specialized networking-intensive application, choose one of these daughterboards in conjunction with the right mainboard to get the job done!

For the ultimate test of computer ruggedness and durability, we submit our Extreme Environment selection of fanless barebone systems: the PT-1ZB0 and the PT-9WC1. Designed for industrial control applications where performance cannot be sacrificed to accommodate harsh conditions, these systems are the perfect marriage of capability and durability.

The PT-1ZB0 is designed to operate in a wide range of temperatures, withstanding long-term exposure as hot as 70°C and as cold as -40°C. Not only that, it’s designed to survive physical shocks of up to 40 g/11 milliseconds with a Solid State Drive, as well as up to about 500 Hz vibration. All this comes in a case only 33 mm tall, yet it’s equipped with an Intel Atom N270 processor, 1 GB of DDR2 533 SO-DIMM wide-temperature RAM, VGA and DVI-D video output, and an expansion slot for a PCI Express Mini Card.

If you find yourself wanting more power in an equally rugged chassis, the PT-9WC1 does all that and more! Boasting an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.26 GHz processor and up to 4 GB of wide-temperature RAM with an integrated heat spreader, the PT-9WC1 is designed to offer compelling computing power in a package that will last in conditions that would make an office desktop quake with fear and then stop working. For even more durability, a solid state hard drive will let you shake or play catch with the PT-9WC1 without having to worry about your hard disk platter ... not that we suggest such rough play.

There are some definite differences between the USA and European site, though. I would like to note that the goal is to get the USA site to have similar functionality to the European site within the year! So, for all of you who have been requesting a handy-dandy filtering system on the left-hand side of the site, you only have to wait a little longer to have your dreams realized.