Many people ask what an industrial control computer (ICC) is. Essentially, an ICC is a computer. Simply put, there are three types of computers: personal PCs, servers, and ICCs. An ICC is a specialized computer designed for industrial production control, used to monitor and control machinery, production processes, and data parameters in industrial production.
Therefore, compared to personal PCs and servers, industrial PCs operate in extremely harsh environments with very high data security requirements. To ensure optimal performance, they typically undergo specialized treatments unlike those for ordinary computers, including ruggedization, dustproofing, moisture protection, corrosion resistance, and radiation protection. Furthermore, industrial PCs have very high demands for expandability, often requiring custom-designed systems to meet the needs of specific external devices.
In short, an industrial control computer is a special type of computer that has some characteristics compared to a regular personal computer:
1. To ensure that the machine has a high degree of antimagnetic, dustproof, and shock resistance, the chassis of industrial control computers is usually made of steel.
2. Common computer cases have a dedicated baseplate with both PCI and ISA slots.
3. The chassis has a dedicated power supply and must have very strong anti-interference capabilities.
4. Requires the ability to work continuously for long periods of time, possibly for several months or even a whole year.
5. Standard chassis that are easy to install are usually used (such as 1U, 2U, 3U, 4U, with 4U being the most common).
PS: 1. 1U is 4.445cm. U is a unit for representing the external dimensions of a server. It is an abbreviation for unit. The detailed dimensions are determined by the Electronic Industries Association (EIA), an industry group.
2. A "1U PC server" refers to a product whose form factor meets EIA specifications and has a thickness of 4.445cm. Products designed to fit into a 19-inch server rack are generally called rack servers.
3. Industrial control computers (ICCs) are high-availability, high-density, low-cost server platforms specifically designed for specialized applications and high-density computing environments. They can boot their own operating systems from local hard drives, such as Windows/NT/2000/2003, Linux, Solaris, etc., similar to independent servers. In this mode, each motherboard runs its own system, serving a specific user group, and there is no connection between them. However, we can still use system software to integrate these motherboards into a server cluster.
