The most susceptible component of any Industrial PC is the hard drive. Some sources suggest shock mounting the hard drive; unfortunately, shock mounting may cause the hard drive to become more vibration-sensitive at certain frequencies. The most common method to overcome a susceptibility to vibration is through the use of solid-state storage media or the use of redundant hard drives.

One approach is to use a RAID-enabled PC. RAID stands for RedundantArray of Independent Disks. In essence, RAID is two or more hard disks attached to the same controller, either SCSI or IDE. The RAID controller can “stripe” or “mirror” data. This is a more cost effective approach to data maintenance, offering larger storage capabilities.

The 4715 series RAID-Enabled Industrial PCs are factory configured with a RAID level 1 implementation. These RAID-enabled configurations come standard with two easily removable Serial ATA hard drives and a built in RAID controller. This created a more robust, fault tolerant system to help maintain your machine operation and production. When utilized correctly a RAID-enabled industrial PC can greatly improve the overall reliability of an application.

RAID Level 1

In a RAID 1 system there is a primary and a secondary hard drive. The RAID controller writes to both drives but only reads from the primary drive. If the RAID controller detects any problem with the primary drive it switches over to the secondary drive (which has an exact copy of all data on the primary drive) and utilizes it as the primary drive. The PC will continue to run allowing time to change the faulty hard drive without interruption in machine operation. Once the drive has been replaced the RAID controller automatically begins creating a mirror copy of the good drive. This process runs in the background while the machine operation is maintained. Once this new drive is operational it is recommended that the other drive be scheduled for replacement.


Higher Performance, Lower Power

The 4715 utilizes an Intel mobile processor providing superior processing power while utilizing half the wattage of a comparable Pentium 4 Processor. The optional Pentium M 2.0 GHz processor (2 M CACHE & 533 MHz system bus) outperforms a desktop Pentium 4 2.4 GHz (512 K CACHE & 533 MHz bus) while utilizing less than half the wattage. With less wattage input the ambient operating temperature is more easily maintained, possibly without the need for expansive enclosure cooling devices. This makes the 4715 ideal for applications which require a NEMA sealed enclosure.


Easy-to-Read Display

The 4715 units utilize bright TFT LCD flat panel displays. Complex operations and screens can be displayed with clarity. The 4715 units incorporate a 15.0" XGA (1024 x 768) resolution. In addition, the 4715 units automatically share up to 32 MB system RAM to allow full 32-bit color depth and fast 3D rendering.


Meets High Standards

To survive on the plant floor, the 4715 meets FCC, UL, cUL, and European CE mark requirements for industrial automation equipment. Pro-face America leads the industry in reliability, service, and support with an optional five year warranty available.