Body Armour for PCs - Protecting your Computer
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Computers are now everywhere, not just in our offices and homes but nearly
every working environment now seems to be controlled by a PC. Of course their
processing power often means tasks that took hours or days before are done
almost instantly.
Even in heavy industry, computers, if they haven't replaced human workers,
now run side-by-side with them. Yet computers can be sensitive pieces of
equipment and often conditions in some industry locations can cause tremendous
problems with IT.
It would be illegal and unethical to make a human employee operate in hostile
conditions without adequate protection or safety equipment but it is very rare
that people make the same consideration for computers.
However, each year, companies have an average of 501 hours of computer
downtime costing millions in annual productivity and revenue. According to a
recent study, computer downtime is responsible for the loss of 3.6% of annual
revenue compared to 6 % caused by employee sickness and absence.
Yet often, the conditions that computers have to work in often cause many of
the problems associated with computer downtime, from dust, fluid spills,
excessive temperatures (either hot or cold) or bangs and knocks from forklifts
or other industrial machinery.
Computers of course are very sensitive piece of equipment and designed to run
in offices or homes, certainly not industrial locations. Yet millions of PCs do
just that, from controlling machinery like furnaces or presses to processing
data on production lines.
Of course specialist PCs are available that can endure extremes of hot and
cold and withstand being bombarded by dust or fluids. However, these are often
highly expensive machines and as computers develop at an exponential rate, will
need replacing quite regularly.
This is quite possibly the reason many industrial computer users opt to use
cheap PCs and replace them regularly rather than opt for expensive and quickly
obsolete specialist industrial computers.
However, there are inexpensive solutions to protecting PCs in hostile
environments in the shape of industrial PC enclosures. All computers have an
enclosure of sorts, normally just a thin piece of aluminium, which protects the
circuitry. However, for industrial applications these are not adequate enough
and fail to protect the PC from spills, dust or knocks by heavy machinery (such
as fork lifts)
An industrial PC enclosure is made from all sorts of materials including
food-grade stainless steel and can house a conventional PC protecting it from
dust and fluids, heat and cold (often industrial enclosures have air
conditioners or heaters installed to control temperature) and can withstand
dramatic impacts (some even claim to be able to withstand a bomb blast).
These industrial PC enclosures allow a conventional PC to be repaired or
replaced whilst still keeping the same enclosure, allowing operators the
opportunity to keep abreast of the latest upgrades. Many industrial computer
enclosures can also operate safely even in explosive atmospheres as the
circuitry is housed inside, preventing any dangerous sparking. They can also be
completely doused in water making them perfect accessories for food
manufacturing or areas that are frequently hosed down.
About the Author
Copyright 2008 © Richard N Williams Richard N Williams is a technical author
and a specialist in the industrial computer industry helping to develop
industrial computer enclosures and
protection for all environments. Please visit us for more information about
computer enclosure solutions.
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Article Published/Sorted/Amended on Scopulus 2008-05-28 23:24:10 in Computer Articles
