14 DAY TRIAL // Despite losing much of their market share in favor of AMD’s Brazos-series APUs, Intel’s Atom processors are still popular among industrial computer designers such as Advantech, who recently unveiled the ARK-1120 embedded PC.
The compact system is housed inside a small form factor aluminum enclosure which weighs no more than 0.7Kg (1.55 lbs) and was designed for thin client and factory automation applications.
At the heart of the system stands Intel's Atom N455 Pineview processor that includes a single computing core with Hyper-Threading support, working at a frequency of 1.66GHz.
The Intel processor is seconded by 2GB of SO-DIMM DDR3 system memory, while the expansion options list includes an internal Mini-PCIe slot.
The rest of the I/O connectors are found in the front and back of the machine, where Advantech has placed a Gigabit LAN port, four USB 2.0 ports, a VGA video output (supports resolution up to 1040x1050 @ 60Hz), audio in/out connectors, a pair of RS-232 serial ports, and a 12V power input.
For storage purposes, Advantech’s embedded PC can be configured with a single 2.5-inch SATA storage drive. Customers, however, also have the option of installing a CompactFlash disk, which can be used as an SSD.
Like other Advantech products, the ARK-1120 embedded PC is also compatible with the SUSIAccess remote management API, so that users can monitor, configure, and control a large number of terminals and centralize maintenance.
Advantech SUSIAccess also supports FTP offsite back-up of complete system and files at any time, along with full system and file restore, if the computer should ever fail to boot up or crash.
The ARK-1120 is available right now, but no details regarding the price of this mini-PC have so far been announced by Advantech.
