Kontron announced a ruggedized server designed to operate in temperatures from 32 to 122 deg. F (0 to 50 deg. C). The KISS 4U KTC5520 features single or dual Intel Xeon 5500 or 5600 processors, up to 96GB of DDR3 memory, four drive bays, plus PCI and PCI Express expansion slots, the company says.

According to Kontron, the KISS 4U KTC5520 is aimed at medical, industrial imaging and military applications, as well as high end audio processing and storage. While being touted as the company's "first server using a feature-rich integrated extended ATX motherboard," the device is similar to previous KISS devices (including last year's KTQ45, which employed the slightly smaller KTQ45/ATXE main board and supported Core 2 Duo E8400 and Q9400 processors).

Kontron's KISS 4U KTC5520

Kontron says the KISS 4U KTC5520 (above) is built around the KTC5520-EATX, an extended ATX (13 x 12 inches) motherboard that was introduced in March. Featuring the 5520 I/O hub and ICH10R I/O controller, the board supports single- or dual-core Xeon 5500 processors, as well as several of the Xeon 5600 CPUs that were introduced by Intel the same month.

The fastest Xeon 5600 supported by the board appears to be the Xeon L5638, which has a 2GHz clock speed, six cores, a 12MB second-level cache, and a 60 Watt TDP, according to Intel. Bristling with DIMM slots, as pictured below, the KTC-5520-EATX accepts up to 96MB of RAM (48MB per CPU), according to Kontron.

Kontron's KTC5520-EATX
(Click to enlarge)

The KTC5520-EATX's coastline (above) includes a serial port, a VGA output, two PS/2 ports, two gigabit Ethernet ports, four USB 2.0 ports, and audio connectors (analog line, mic, front, back, side, low-center, and SPDIF out/in).

Kontron added in March that the board has six expansion slots: one PCI Express x16, three PCI Express x8, one PCI Express x4, and one 32-bit, 33MHz PCI. There are also headers for two additional USB ports and a TPM (trusted platform module), the company said.

All this functionality is carried over to the built-up KISS 4U KTC5520, whose case includes a 650W power supply with the option of two redundant 500W supplies instead, according to Kontron. The device has room for two externally accessible 5.25-inch hard disk drives, one 3.5-inch drive, and an optical drive using Kontron's own SLIM format, the company says.

According to Kontron, the KISS 4U KTC5520 provides "extreme performance, high I/O bandwidth, and exceptional reliability, backed by a seven-year life-cycle support program." The device can be fully managed remotely using an IMP (integrated management processor) that integrates VGA/2D, BMC, and KVM/VM over IP to support real-time access with full control from anywhere, at any time, the company adds.

Features and specifications listed by Kontron for the KISS 4U KTC5520 include:

• Processor — Intel Xeon 5500 or 5600 (2.0GHz Xeon L5638 is top choice)
• Chipset — 5520 I/O hub and ICH10R I/O controller
• Memory — up to 96GB of DDR3 RAM
• Storage — 2 x 5.25-inch, 1 x 3.5-inch, 1 SLIM
• Expansion:
  • 1 x PCI Express x16
  • 3 x PCI Express x8
  • 1 x PCI Express x4
  • 1 x 32-bit, 33MHz PCI
• Networking — 2 x gigabit Ethernet
• Other I/O:
  • 6 x USB 2.0 (2 front, 4 rear)
  • 1 x VGA (resolution up to 1600 x 1200 pixels)
  • 2 x PS/2
  • HD audio (connectors n/s, but likely six analog connectors, as on KTC5520-EATX)
  • 1 x RS232
• Power — 650W power supply, or 2 x 500W
• Operating range — 32 to 122 deg. F (0 to 50 deg. C)
• Dimensions — 19 x 18.58 x 6.96 inches (482 x 472 x 177mm)
• Weight — 33 pounds (15kg)

Availability

Kontron specifically cites Red Hat Linux and Windows Server 2008 as being compatible with the KISS 4U KTC5520, but the device should run most other x86 operating systems too. The device is available now in EMEA and will be available in the Americas and APAC starting in September, the company says.

More information on the KISS 4U KTC5520 may be found on Kontron's website, here. More information on the underlying HTC5520-EATX board may be found here.

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