IT in Manufacturing


Modular rackmount computer with smart OS recovery

October 2014 IT in Manufacturing

Moxa has announced the release of the DA-682A rackmount computer featuring its latest software advance, Smart Recovery, an OS recovery utility with powerful automation features. Built around the latest Intel Celeron/i7 CPU, the DA-682A combines strong computational power with valuable software and hardware innovations that increase system reliability, all with a modular flexibility that easily meets any industrial system connection requirements.

Smart Recovery automated OS recovery system boosts overall reliability

Smart Recovery is one of Moxa’s most recent software innovations, an OS backup and recovery system implemented at the BIOS level, giving the computing system strong protections against software corruption that can cause system slowdowns, instability, or operating system crashes. Smart Recovery improves system dependability and significantly reduces the risks and costs associated with the software corruptions that inevitably emerge as a platform ages.

Smart Recovery provides several different modes that encompass all the basic approaches to OS recovery, including manual recoveries; fully automated, machine-initiated recoveries; and remote user-initiated recoveries. Engineers may use Moxa Smart Recovery to:

* Automate preventive maintenance tasks: automated periodic recoveries eliminate the system slow down that inevitably emerge after long use by resetting the OS back to its earliest post-installation state.

* Remotely repair field side systems saving on labour and time expenses: OS recoveries may be configured to respond to remote triggers, saving the cost of sending a tech-nician to make on-site repairs. Remote, user-initiated recoveries are especially helpful when maintaining unmanned field sites.

* Easy plug-and-run updates: Smart Recovery also allows any untrained user to resolve OS problems. The manual recovery mode allows any user to merely insert a preconfigured USB key that will take over and automatically complete a full system recovery. This is ideal for situations that may demand urgent, on-site repairs where an Internet connection may be slow or non-existent, and/or experienced administrators are not available.

Rich connectivity options allow easy expansion

One of the most important features of the DA-682A is its two PCI slots, for expansion modules. Moxa provides a variety of communication modules, including an 8-port RS-232/422/485 module and a 4-port 10/100 Mbps Ethernet LAN module. Users can also adapt a universal PCI board of their own design to add a wide variety of additional interfaces. This friendly design gives users the advantage of being able to customise the DA-682A quickly and cleanly for nearly any industrial solution.

Industrial-grade reliability and stability

Instead of just combining different parts from diverse vendors, all of Moxa’s embedded computer solutions evolve out of a system-wide perspective. Heat dispatch in the DA-682A has been carefully modelled through extensive in-house testing, guaranteeing that this fanless computer will remain stable and reliable throughout a typical range of industrial temperatures. Moxa backs up each DA-682A with a full 3-year warranty.

In addition to the two PCI expansion slots, DA-682A computers also come with one standard VGA output, six Gigabit Ethernet ports, one CompactFlash slot, and four USB ports. Standard models come pre-installed with Debian Linux or Windows Embedded Standard 7 operating systems, as well as ready-to-run software that helps make a system programmer’s job considerably easier. With three different CPU options as well as stripped-down models that allow designers to install the DOM, RAM, and operating system of their choice, the DA-682A series of embedded rackmount computers are a flexible, dependable foundation for building custom industrial computing platforms.



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