What challenges we faced:
Seeking a motherboard solution from Impact Components, the customer was designing a military server of high-end computing performance in a 1U chassis with a depth of 13.4” (34.04 cm) to fit most any rack space for military applications for everything from communications and networking to weapons control, sensor, and surveillance, and unmanned aircraft systems. The server would have to meet FCC, MIL-STD-461, RE102, CE102, and MIL-STD-810 standards. The MIL-STD-810 military standard requires the server’s Operational Temperature of -40°C to +55°C, Storage -55°C to +85°C, Altitude of 12,500 ft operation, 40,000 ft transport, Vibration of 4.63 GRMS, 5-2000Hz, 60 min/axis with solid state drives, and Shock of 20g, 11msec--functional shock; 40g, 11msec crash hazard shock. This motherboard product would have to possess long term availability, be compatible with a specific Ubuntu version operational at 25W-25W CPU TDP as "a sweet spot" because of the server's very low physical profile.
Our Solution:
Impact Components helped the client select an industrial-grade motherboard that is TAA compliant (designed and made in Germany = "U.S. friendly"). The motherboard featured a long MTBF of 14 years at 50C. To illustrate its long term availability, our team provided the actual roadmap from the motherboard manufacturer. The server design was started in 2018 even before the selected processor officially came out from Intel, completed with certifications in 2020, but still supported in mass production without changes to the design until end of 2029. The board's life cycle has been extended a number of times. And to make the motherboard work with a specific Ubuntu version, tweaks were made by Impact via a BIOS update.
Technologies Used:
Kontron D3633-S motherboard. This Kontron CoffeeLake motherboard offers the option for users to easily configure the processor TDP (Thermal Design Power) via BIOS Setup. This enables the system builder to force the motherboard to reduce the maximum processor power according to the specific system needs. That decreased the CPU TDP to 35W in order to use a 65W CPU in a 35W system.
