Yes, single board computers. I remembered it after I clicked send. That's a broader term than what I'm talking about I think though. I'm thinking something like this: http://cgi.ebay.com/P3-Single-Board-Computer-700Mhz-SBC-256-Ram-NON-DOA_W0Q… ...mixed with something like this: http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Advantech-20-Slot-Backplane-11-PCI-7-ISA-1-PICMG_W0… Or maybe something older and isa-only for use with linux or freedos and mame. I'm worried that for the isa/pci combo boards, the distance between the isa and pci connectors on the bridge slots might not line up. brian On Mon, Nov 23, 2009 at 3:14 PM, geoffrey oltmans <oltmansg at bellsouth.net>wrote:

Alexandre Souza - Listas wrote: Lots of slots. If the system board goes bad, you can replace just the system board instead of taking the whole machine apart to replace the backplane. Peace... Sridhar

Hmm, seems me a good proposition :oD Now that you said that, I see how interesting it is/was But how it cares with the PCI slot selection line?

On Mon, Nov 23, 2009 at 4:01 PM, Dave McGuire <mcguire at neurotica.com> wrote: Some of them look really proprietary while others seem to have the normal compliment of PC compatible internal and external ports. I worry about the bios though. I might have to swap in the bios from a more garden variety motherboard, if that would even work. Ideally, I'd like to buy one with all the memory and processors already installed and have it just work like a normal PC, albeit with a huge number of slots and a goofy form factor. brian

lol... that's a good way to put it. I think in some instances they have support for hot swapping PCI cards as well, so there may be a downtime/reliability angle to their use as well. But, for the most part, I agree with your statement... probably has more to do with desktop programmers trying (not so hard) to do an embedded design. ________________________________ From: Dave McGuire <mcguire at neurotica.com> To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Sent: Mon, November 23, 2009 4:16:31 PM Subject: Re: isa 486 computer-on-a-board type things On Nov 23, 2009, at 5:11 PM, Brian Lanning wrote: Nearly all of them do, but they may be on other types of connectors. Huh? Why? Well. I'd not get too excited about them. They're just PCs, nothing special. They were (and still are) used in lots of high-density and embedded applications where the designers were too lazy to use a real embedded computer. There's nothing particularly special about these machines. -Dave --Dave McGuire Port Charlotte, FL

On 11/23/09 2:01 PM, "Dave McGuire" <mcguire at neurotica.com> wrote: -snip- Dave's right, several router companies used these sort of cards in 2U chassis. We just recently decommissioned a bunch of F5 Big-IP's that used those cards.

Alexandre Souza - Listas wrote: I would strongly argue "better" and "less clunky". Many of the industrial SBCs I've worked with had a level of build quality you rarely see from most of the mainstream motherboard manufacturers. Also, the modularity of the parts means that if/when the board craps out (be it shop on-site. I see SBC-based systems infrequently in telecom applications. There are some 386-based SBCs driving a fair number of voicemail systems around. Some of these systems have been around for 20+ years now. I also know of a national cellular company who's voicemail system runs on Pentium SBC-backplane boxes. The form factor is familiar to most telecom techs: there's guys I've worked with who have been replacing boards in switches since the 1960's, and they don't need to have it explained to "slot this board into slot A-1 of the chassis, and ship me the board that's in there". I'd hate to have to step these guys through a motherboard swap on a modern rackmount ITX chassis.