| As we've stated before in this and other TMC
publications, the value of industrial PCs for a variety of communications
needs -- whether as Web servers or as home to any number of CTI
applications -- cannot be overemphasized. Advantech is one vendor offering
a variety of industrial computing options for companies with various
budgets. The PC we reviewed was comprised of what might be considered an
entry-level configuration. While offering all of what you'd need for
serious telephony (and decent marketing copy, namely sturdiness and
reliability coupled with scalable architecture), it still remains
affordable and easy to maintain. Thus, it's an ideal system for companies
who want to build (or add to) a communications foundation without breaking
the bank.
INSTALLATION
Physical installation of the 4U, 19" rack mountable chassis was
exceptionally simple. While covering the bases (power supply, power cord,
RJ-45 jack, etc.), Advantech also offers a dual mouse and keyboard adaptor
that plugs into a single port in the back of the chassis. This is neat,
though it could pose a problem should you lose the adaptor and be left
with only a single port. The actual chassis itself is pretty standard
fare, offering two handles and four fastener holes for getting the chassis
in and out of a standard-sized rack, as well as securing it to the rack.
The front of the chassis includes a transparent, lockable hatch which,
when opened, provides access to the CD-ROM and floppy drives as well as
the reset and keyboard lock buttons. When closed, a series of LED lights
are still viewable through the translucent hatch pane.
DOCUMENTATION
The chassis and CPU card each came with separate user manuals. You can't
expect terribly in-depth documentation for products such as these, so a
cursory perusal was all that was necessary in order to ensure that the
manuals covered the basics. They failed to do so only one count, and that
was by neglecting to include indexes. Hence Advantech's loss of a perfect
score in this category. Otherwise, documentation provided the requisite
diagrams, specification lists, and categorized instructions through
clearly written and visually readable booklets.
FEATURES
Once we had the system up and running (which was very quickly) we were
able to start perusing a range of features available through the Award
BIOS. A "jumper free" mode allows you to configure processor
settings, overclock chip frequencies, and modify Vcore voltages. While
viewing current cooling fan RPMs, you can also set alarm thresholds to
alert you should fan speed or temperature vary from a specified range.
Voltage levels are also monitored to ensure stable current is available to
critical components. In addition to these and other features, for the
entry level price (bear in mind that price includes features not listed
below, like a copy of Windows 2000 for example) you can also get a system
stocked with the following:
- 14-slot backplane.
- Socket 370 Pentium III SBC with VGA/LAN.
- Pentium III 850 MHz CPU for Socket 370.
- 128 MB, 168 pin, SDRAM.
- 3.5" 10 GB hard disk drive (IDE).
- 48 speed IDE internal CD-ROM.
- "Wake-on-LAN" feature allowing you to power up remotely
through your network by sending a frame or signal.
- "Wake-on-ring" feature which allows the PC to be turned on
remotely through an internal or external modem.
- A power on alarm that turns the PC on at a specified time.
OPERATIONAL TESTING
There are probably two scenarios in which a user would interact with an
Advantech Industrial PC most frequently once it's been set up: during
installation of either software or new cards. Other than that, the
influence of such a product upon a business enterprise is mostly
experienced in the front office -- through what we would assume would be
more reliable telephony features and services -- while the products
themselves just purr away in the background somewhere doing their job. We
installed Windows 2000 on our demo system to get a feel for the first
scenario, finding it neither more simple nor more difficult than we have
with any other PC.
Although we did not actually install any additional cards, we did get a
feel for how simple it would be to do so by opening up the 4U chassis,
which we did within a couple of seconds by removing four small screws.
What we found was an efficient, roomy architecture that already housed a
NIC card and a full-size, Pentium III, socket 370 CPU card (or
"PCA-6178" in Advantech's appropriately "industrial"
nomenclature) that had been previously installed on the 14- slot passive
backplane. The PCA-6178 in particular is a PCI/ISA-bus card, so it
actually utilized one set of each type of bus found in this chassis,
spanning both a PCI and ISA. You may think that architecture doesn't
matter all that much, but our experience with other hardware shows that
you don't always gain access to as much room as you've been promised.
In addition to the buses, we also found components like the power
supply (as well as the removable CPU fan and filter) very accessible for
upgrade, repair, or replacement purposes. In terms of scalability, the
chassis not only offers a lot of room for growth through its passive
backplane, but also through two additional hard disk drive slots located
just above the CD-ROM.
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
There is not much we can suggest to improve upon this rather well
equipped, well designed, and affordable system. We have seen other system
chassis offering a built-in VGA monitor, which might be a nice feature,
but probably would not be feasible given the affordability of the PC we
looked at. For one reasonable improvement, Advantech designers might move
the monitor and keyboard/mouse port to the front of the chassis and place
them behind the lockable hatch. This way different components could be
changed without having to unfasten the whole chassis and slide it out of
the rack to gain access to the back. Also, at least a small index should
be added to any documentation.
CONCLUSION
As stated throughout this review, when coupled with their socket 370 CPU
card, the Advantech chassis we looked at will help companies make a
powerful entry into the world of enhanced telephony -- while also
remaining scalable enough to support at least a couple years worth of
growth. Advantech is also a prime pick for companies seeking a more
advanced system with redundant power supplies and hot-swappable hard
drives. Since technology is supposed to level the playing field, we feel
they especially deserve accolades for sophisticated, reliable, and yet
affordable products like their IPC-610F.
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INDUSTRIES
INDUSTRIES
