Force Adds System 4 To Flexor Line - Product Announcement

EDP Weekly's IT Monitor, Feb 4, 2002

Force Computers, a Solectron company (NYSE:SLR) and a leader in embedded computing, has introduced the System 4 embedded server, the latest addition to the Flexor family of modular system solutions. Preconfigured standard with either a 566MHz Celeron or dual 1GHz Pentium III processor-based single board computer (SBC), the System 4 is designed to meet application requirements for high slot counts across a wide range of processing needs--from the most cost effective to the highest performance. It's targeted at OEMs designing networking, telecommunications and customer premises equipment for e-commerce vendors, telecommunications providers and others using large servers for purposes such as digital X-ray and magnetic resonance imaging. This 4U-high system offers 15 slots -- of which 10 are full-length 64-bit PCI slots -- to accommodate OEM needs for mixing and matching I/O expansion cards to meet their configuration requirements.

"With the addition of the System 4 to Force's broad portfolio of configurable embedded system solutions, the Flexor line now offers OEMs a selection of products from a basic 1U server all the way to a fully configured 4U system," said Michael Beauchemin, Force product manager. "And with 15 expansion slots that can be populated with virtually any combination of peripheral cards, a Celeron or dual Pentium III based System 4 offers a powerful, cost-effective solution that's tough to match. Compared to off-the-shelf products, this system offers greater configurability for slot count, Ethernet, memory, processor, storage and power supply. Not to mention, Flexor products meet exact OEM needs -- from exclusive branding to custom engineering -- since we'll work with OEMs out of our global footprint of six design centers, all backed by Solectron's ISO 9001 certified manufacturing strength, a benefit few other outsource embedded providers can offer."

Or customers can select their SBC configuration from among four other processor options: single Celeron 733MHz processor; single Pentium III 600 or 850MHz processor; dual Pentium III 866MHz processors. All SBCs include graphics, serial, parallel, USB and Ethernet interfaces -- and select SBCs feature SCSI interfaces.

For maximum flexibility, System 4 offers 15 expansion slots -- of which 10 are full-length PCI slots, three are ISA slots and two are for SBCs -- and options for DVD/floppy, CD/floppy and internal drives. And a powered 15-slot enclosure is also available separately.

Based on PICMG PCI/ISA standard passive backplane technology, the Flexor line provides a range of processors, backplanes and enclosures that combine to create platforms to match OEM requirements. PICMG passive backplane technology offers advantages of low-cost peripherals and I/O cards from the PC market but with flexibility and reliability standard PCs can't match. Combined with Force's commitment to quality and longevity, Flexor products offer optimum industrial/embedded computing solutions. Availability and pricing

System 4 embedded servers are now available in volume. Prices start at $3,099 for fully configured Celeron processor-based models and $5,999 for high-end Pentium III processor-based units.