Portwell announced a modular 1U network appliance that supports Intel's recently announced Xeon E3 CPUs. The CAR-4010 comes with eight or 16 gigabit Ethernet ports, up to 16GB of RAM, two or four hard disk drives, a CompactFlash slot, PCI Express expansion, and a front-panel character display, the company says.

Portwell says its CAR-4010 can be either a flexible network appliance or a server, thanks to its many expansion options. For example, the device can boot from an embedded OS installed via its CompactFlash slot, but it also includes room for up to two 3.5-inch disk drives or four 2.5-inch drives, according to the company.

The CAR-4010 is interesting in that, according to Portwell, it employs Intel's C206 chipset, a "Cougar Point" variant that is used here to support both Core i3 processors and the Xeon E3-12xx range. Intel recently added two new versions to the latter:

• the Xeon E3-1220L, with dual cores, a 2.2GHz basic clock speed and 3.3GHz TurboBoost speed, support for 32GB of memory, and a 20-Watt TDP
• and the Xeon E3-1260L, which is similarly clocked but moves to four cores and has a 45-Watt TDP

Designed to be operated via a serial console, the CAR-4010 has a front-panel RJ45 port for that purpose as well as a LCD that can display either 2 x 16 or 128 x 32 characters. Also up front are two USB 2.0 ports and eight gigabit Ethernet ports, says Portwell.

Portwell's CAR-4010
(Click to enlarge)

The module — identifiable above left by its two screws — is available in various versions, the most ambitious of which adds eight additional gigabit Ethernet ports for a total of 16, according to Portwell. The device includes two software-controlled bypass segments, the company adds: fail-open or fail-close.

Meanwhile, the CAR-4010 is also said to have rear-accessible expansion slots. One of these supports standard PCI Express x16 cards while the other supports a proprietary "golden finger" PCI Express x16, the company says.

Portwell's CAR-4010 is available with a choice of power supplies

As depicted above, the CAR-4010 is available with a single 250-Watt ATX power supply, redundant 275-Watt supplies, or a 48VDC input. Power consumption wasn't cited, but operating range is from 32 to 104 deg. F, according to Portwell.

Specifications listed by Portwell for the CAR-4010 include:

• Processor — LGA1155-socketed Core i3 or Xeon E3-12xx
• Chipset — C206 I/O controller
• Memory — up to 16GB of DDR3 RAM via four DIMM sockets
• Storage — CompactFlash slot, plus room for 2 x 3.5-inch or 4 x 2.5-inch hard disk drives
• Expansion — 1 x PCI Express x16; 1 x PCI Express x8 (proprietary)
• Networking — 8 x gigabit Ethernet, with optional modules supporting up to eight additional ports
• Other I/O:
  2 x USB 2.0
  • RJ45 for serial console
• Power:
  • 250W ATX with AC input, dual 275W with AC input, or 250W with 48VDC input
  • consumption n/s
• Dimensions — 20 x 17.24 x 1.73 inches
• Weight — n/s

Further information

Portwell did not specify pricing or operating system support. More information may be found on the CAR-4010 product page.

Jonathan Angel can be followed at www.twitter.com/gadgetsense.

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