5 Facts to Know About Rugged Servers

 Have you ever wondered how information specialists in Afghanistan are able to store, manage, and communicate data to field units so that they can act on that strategic information? Or, have you ever wondered how researchers in the Arctic are able to manipulate meteorological data at the Pole? The technology that allows this computing and management of data in exteremely severe conditions is known as a rugged server.

A rugged computer or server is specifically designed to operate in extremely harsh conditions and rugged environments. They are built to withstand extreme vibrations if they need to be used on heavy machinery or need to be built to withstand the casual drop or mishandling.

Or, they may be designed to withstand meteorological conditions, such as extreme temperatures, execessively wet or excessively dry environments. A rugged computer is engineered to withstand everything from underwater use for underwater welders and ship builders, to civil engineers in Dubai working on large scale construction projects. 

Typically this involves a design process that starts with a thorough examination of the type of conditions the computer will be used in. This includes thinking about how environmental conditions will effect not only the outer casing of the server, but also the inner components, and need for cooling, or other requirements. Typically, most ruggedized servers will share the same robustness of design.

The most common environment and industries where a rugged computer, be it a laptop, tablet, or PDA, are used are in public safety and utilities, field sales and service, manufacturing and production, military, and transportation. You may also noticed rugged computers in hospitals and in some cases even in retail locations.

They are gaining popularity among agricultural companies, as well. Rugged computers have also been in recreational use by individuals for over a decade in the form of GPS devices for hunting and geo-caching.

To find out how you can get a custom rugged computer for your business, or for your own personal use, click here! AventasInc.com is your source for custom computers and servers to handle any environment.

A Beginner's Guide to FPGA Boards

To the uninitiated, an FPGA board may seem like something you can ride around on, it is actually more likely to be found in your computer. A Field-Programmable Gate Array Board is a highly-designed integrated circuit that is intended to be programmed and configured for a given application by the end consumer, thus the term field-programmable as it can literally be programmed in the ‘field’. Basically, if you were to go by one of these circuits from a manufacturer, you would need to program it to perform its desired function before you can use it.

So, how do you program such a circuit? The vendor who sold you the circuit will usually provide software that allows you to create a logic function to tell the board what to do. This will then be stored in a binary file that you can upload into the circuit from a computer. One of the biggest benefits of using this type of circuit is that they can be used over and over again for different functions. If you have a new need for the circuit, you can simply create a new logic function and file and upload it to the circuit, and voila! It starts performing its new desired duties.

The way an FPGA board works is the circuit is a one-logic cell that has been duplicated thousands of times. Inside of the cell is a tiny piece of Random Access Memory that implements your logic functions. While one cell alone is able to do very little, these thousands of cells are interconnected so that they can work in concert to serve any number of functions.

Many people enjoy building FPGA boards as a hobby, or for small projects at home. These people can often find retail electronics stores where they can buy the boards and everything they need to program and implement them. Businesses also purchase these circuits directly from manufacturing to serve a number of real-world applications.

To find out more about FPGA boards or to buy a circuit of your own, go to AventasInc.com now!