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I once did a project which involved migrating an ancient (early 1980s) DOS based application to FreeDOS via a VMWare host. The application controlled an oven i

I once did a project which involved migrating an ancient (early 1980s) DOS based application to FreeDOS via a VMWare host. The application controlled an oven in a soft drinks bottling factory and due to EMI, the physical disk had to be cloned every 6-9months to avoid corruption, and sourcing ancient IDE drives was problematic. The manufacturer was happy to provide updated software, but only alongside a new oven, at a cost of £1 million. The factory had 4 ovens. VMWare + Windows 7 + SSDs + proper Siemens industrial PC = much cheaper hack! Definitely a cool feeling knowing the solution might be in place another 20-30 years :-)

bobthebuilders 5y ago
What kind of PC is an industrial PC? More hardened? More resistant to factory floor accidents?
- silverlyra 5y ago
  I don’t work in the field, but I was curious too and found the Siemens product offerings: https://new.siemens.com/global/en/products/automation/pc-based.html https://new.siemens.com/global/en/products/automation/pc-bas... Looks like they’re hardened to run continuously, reduce potential causes for maintenance, resist vibrations, and run in ambient temperatures up to 55ºC. You can also find variants certified for use in marine shipping scenarios.
  - wtallis 5y ago
    Industrial PCs are also commonly passively cooled and more or less sealed, using the case itself as a heatsink and protecting the electronics inside from airborne contaminants. Individual components can also be industrial or automotive grade rather than commercial grade; for example, industrial-grade SSDs are usually rated for 85°C and often have much higher write endurance ratings than client/consumer SSDs, and may also be protected with a conformal coating or epoxy potting across the entire board.
    - anthk 5y ago
      Also a barebones industrial PC can be 3X more expensive than a common one.
      - mikewarot 5y ago
        The cost of that PC failing can easily be 1000x more than a common one, so it's worth it.
  - comprev 5y ago
    This is correct. The hardware is built and tested to be run in the most horrible conditions. Their support is often top notch too for when the equipment breaks down. Think of them like "rugged laptops" but for PCs / servers.
  - quux 5y ago
    They also tend to have lots of legacy IO and expansion slots. Like 8 bit ISA slots on modern hardware.

bobthebuilders 5y ago

What kind of PC is an industrial PC? More hardened? More resistant to factory floor accidents?

silverlyra 5y ago
I don’t work in the field, but I was curious too and found the Siemens product offerings: https://new.siemens.com/global/en/products/automation/pc-based.html https://new.siemens.com/global/en/products/automation/pc-bas... Looks like they’re hardened to run continuously, reduce potential causes for maintenance, resist vibrations, and run in ambient temperatures up to 55ºC. You can also find variants certified for use in marine shipping scenarios.
- wtallis 5y ago
  Industrial PCs are also commonly passively cooled and more or less sealed, using the case itself as a heatsink and protecting the electronics inside from airborne contaminants. Individual components can also be industrial or automotive grade rather than commercial grade; for example, industrial-grade SSDs are usually rated for 85°C and often have much higher write endurance ratings than client/consumer SSDs, and may also be protected with a conformal coating or epoxy potting across the entire board.
  - anthk 5y ago
    Also a barebones industrial PC can be 3X more expensive than a common one.
    - mikewarot 5y ago
      The cost of that PC failing can easily be 1000x more than a common one, so it's worth it.
- comprev 5y ago
  This is correct. The hardware is built and tested to be run in the most horrible conditions. Their support is often top notch too for when the equipment breaks down. Think of them like "rugged laptops" but for PCs / servers.
- quux 5y ago
  They also tend to have lots of legacy IO and expansion slots. Like 8 bit ISA slots on modern hardware.