The standalone and system solution provider ELMA has launched a MicroTCA test system with rear I/O card rack and upgraded ventilation. This newly developed product complies with xTCA for Physics and MicroTCA.1 specifications. The system has the capacity to hold 12 double-width, mid-size AMCs (6 in the front and 6 in the back) or a double-width, full-size AMC (e.g., for the CPU) and 10 double-width, mid-size AMCs. At the most recent workshop of the “xTCA Workgroup for Physics” held in Lisbon, there was an outpouring of interest from the physics community for a production-ready system.
Aksel Saltuklar, Head of Research & Development at ELMA, is enthusiastic about the flexibility offered by the product: “In basic terms, it is a space-saving tabletop system with a width of 42 HP. However, one thing is different: one rack can be modularly connected to a second one to form a redundant system. What you ultimately have is an 84-HP rack ideally suited for rack mounting.”
With its new product, the Pforzheim-based company has firmly established its pioneering role with regard to “xTCA for Physics”. The air flows from front to rear to cool the unit as in other cabinet systems. As one of its central demands, the xTCA Workgroup for Physics has called for more powerful system cooling in both the front and rear I/O areas. Working under the auspices of the PICMG consortium, the expert commission has been searching since 2009 for versions of AdvancedTCA and MicroTCA standards that are optimised specifically for applications in the area of physics. In addition to the high data transfer rates that are typical for xTCA and the integrated hardware management functions, this branch of science requires special functionalities that were not defined when the MicroTCA standard was established.
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