April 2007

Ten Ways to Protect Your IT Infrastructure
By Carl Walker, Product Manager, Eaton

In this age of critical computing systems and the Internet, business continuity requires that you protect your IT infrastructure from all the hidden threats of the typical facility environment. Every business, no matter how small or large is at risk.

Click here to read this white paper in its entirety.

Interested in learning more about the latest advances in EMC technology? Sign up for Laird’s EMC workshop at Zero Downtime 2007! (Free with your full conference registration.) www.EquipmentProtectionMagazine.com/zero07_workshops.htm

OWC Releases Mercury On-The-Go Enclosure Kits for 2.5-inch Laptop Hard Drives

Other World Computing (OWC) has released two new Mercury On-The-Go Hard Drive Enclosure Kits for 2.5-inch SATA hard drives. Priced at $39.99 with USB 2.0 and $54.99 with USB 2.0+eSATA interface options, OWC Mercury On-The-Go Kits allow users to build their own new portable hard drives or re-use old SATA internal laptop hard drives to turn them into portable external drives that hook up to any computer via its USB 2.0 port.

These enclosure kits feature a see-through design with shock protection for fully portable use on the road or in the office. Easily bootable, the enclosure kits include all the necessary cables to work with any computer with USB port for a light-weight storage device or a backup solution that travels wherever. The enclosures run silently and keep your drive cool with a built-in aluminum heat-sink under the hard drive and pass-through cooling vents on the top.

Pelican i1010 Case Now Available in Matching iPod Colors

Apple iPod owners can now have style, function and protection with the new crush-proof, weather resistant Pelican i1010 Case. With matching iPod colors of blue, green, pink and silver the i1010 sase couples style and function with a special external headphone jack that allows users to protect their iPod while enjoying music.

Protection inside the case comes from a molded rubber compartment that fits and protects the Apple Nano, Shuffle, and all gigabyte sizes of the iPod and iPod Video models. The lid pouch has plenty of space to organize earphones and download cables. An active sport, double end tie down strap with reflective safety stripes is also included.

The i1010 sase sports Pelican's trademarked "Dual Band" design and a high impact polycarbonate shell that stands up to punishing conditions. The strong latch with stainless steel pins keeps the case closed after drops and hard knocks, and the shock-absorbing liner doubles as a weather-resistant seal. Also available in black and white, the i1010 case has an MSRP of $34.95.

Optima EPS now offers its S-series cabinets with flexible design options. The modular approach allows variation in sizes, depths and options for customized solutions based upon a standard product base. The S-series offers a wide range of bezel styles and options for frame size, mounting rails, base, top panel, bottom panel, side panel, doors, color and accessories. Cabinet heights are from 12U to 44U and widths in 19, 23 and 24-inches.

The depth options of the cabinets permit different mounting choices in the front and rear, and a diversity of ways to layout the cable management. The open base designs and top panels provide a large area for cable entry, while a variety of exhaust fans and ventilation is also possible with the top panel options. Several rail types and hole patterns are available to meet a wide range of requirements. Optional features of the cabinets include dust and moisture protection, cooling systems, cable management systems, hard-mounting, electrical plug strips and more.

Elma's S-series cabinets are designed to provide an FCC shielded alternative for test instrumentation, industrial controls and electronic applications. The cabinets are rated at a 46 dB shielding effectiveness (30 MHz to 1,000 MHz). BeCu gasketing is also applied to all seams and joints to insure paint-free electrical contact areas with optional clear chromate.

These industrial cabinets meet or exceed FCC class A and B requirements for equipment protection. Designed to perform in the most demanding applications, the bezels are rated to 6,600 lbs. static load and corrosion resistance is achieved via durable acrylic coating based on thermo setting, cross linking resins. A wide selection of doors, side panels, top and bottom covers are also available.

Laird Technologies Adds to its Convergence Product Offering

Laird Technologies has introduced its Microwave Board Level Shield product for high frequency applications over 6 GHz. This new product is a result of Laird Technologies' convergence technology, which combines two or more unrelated technologies into one unique solution. The Microwave Board Level Shield is a combination of a microwave absorber with board level shielding and will absorb or suppress high frequency interference, enabling the board to be more effective at high frequencies.

The product was developed to address the growing cost of redesign. When printed circuit boards failed EMI/EMC or EM susceptibility testing at high frequencies because of interference or noise, typically the design engineer would look to redesign the board. A redesign is a costly and time-consuming project.

Laird Technologies' Microwave Board Level Shield is an alternate approach. By adding microwave absorbers to the board level shield at the design or testing phase, the board level shield will offer enhanced high frequency performance which may enable the board design to pass testing in the current configuration rather than be redesigned or require costly components. This saves customers time and money and allows a quick and easy fix for the board.

Laird Technologies' utilizes a combination of Q-Zorb RFSW surface wave absorbers and board level shields. Q-Zorb RFSW surface wave absorbers are thin, magnetically loaded elastomeric sheets designed to provide EMI protection at high angles of incidence for surface wave attenuation. Q-Zorb RFSW materials are commonly used to eliminate cavity resonances, reduce the Q of a cavity, or to minimize board level cross talk.

Microwave Board Level Shields incorporate a stamped metal housing and an absorbing elastomer that is designed to meet the specific needs of a high frequency application. Laird Technologies is offering more than 70 standard Microwave Board Level Shield configurations, and custom parts may also incorporate this technology. Laird Technologies' Microwave Board Level Shields are available now and range in price from $.09 to $3.00.

Interested in learning more about the latest advances in EMC technology? Sign up for Laird’s EMC workshop at Zero Downtime 2007! (Free with your full conference registration.)

www.EquipmentProtectionMagazine.com/zero07_workshops.htm

Chomerics, a division of Parker Hannifin Corp. has introduced the ChoForm 5550 corrosion-resistant form-in-place gasket material. ChoForm 5550 is a one component, thermal cure, electrically conductive material containing nickel- plated graphite particles dispersed in a silicone elastomer.

The material is designed for increased flow rates for robotically dispensing onto metal castings. The gaskets provide excellent EMI shielding and demonstrate superior galvanic corrosion resistance when dispensed on bare metal electronics housings, such as base station PCB covers and other electronic equipment requiring long service life under harsh, high-demand conditions.

The gaskets provide shielding effectiveness above 80 dB from 1 to 10 GHz and are designed to meet UL 94V-0 flammability requirements. The high shielding effectiveness and electrical stability of ChoForm 5550 material has been validated in severe environments such as urban gas, salt fog and high temperatures, as well as in high temperature/high humidity cycling. The gaskets are robotically dispensed onto customer enclosures or castings and heat-cured at 150°C in just 30 minutes, allowing fast handling, quality inspection and packaging of dispensed parts.

ATS Heat Sinks Cool 17 mm by 17 mm BGA Packages

Advanced Thermal Solutions has introduced the ATS-590 and ATS-619, two new heat sink solutions specially designed for cooling 17 mm by 17 mm BGA packages such as Intel's 82571EB Gigabit Ethernet Controller and those found in Xilinx's Virtex-4 family. Both heat sinks maintain the component case temperature (Tcase) at or below the manufacturer's thermal specifications and help maintain long-term device reliability.

The ATS-590 heat sink is made from light-weight, black anodized, extruded aluminum and includes 10 integral linear fins to maximize cooling surfaces within the local airflow. The ATS-590 heat sink is 9.5 mm high, 25 mm square and has a thermal resistance of just 8.42°C/W at its base in an air velocity of 1 m/s (200 ft/min). It is mounted with a pair of spring-loaded, push pin mounts for opposite corner attachment directly to the PCB. This attachment system provides mechanical stability for shock and vibration and allows for varying component heights.

The ATS-619 is also made from black anodized, extruded aluminum and employs ATS' patent pending maxiGRIP attachment solution. This system features a plastic frame clip that snaps securely around the chip. A stainless steel spring clip runs through the fin field and fastens securely to the frame, which results in firm heat sink attachment with steady, even pressure. The ATS-619 is just 16.25 mm high and 22 mm by 24 and has a thermal resistance of just 6.11°C/W.

ATS' maxiGRIP heat sink mounting assemblies have been certified by National Technical Systems (NTS) to meet Telcordia GR-63-Core Office Vibration, ETSI 300 019 Transportation Vibration, and MIL-STD-810 Shock Testing and Unpackaged Drop Testing standards. Both heat sinks are also RoHS compliant. Pricing for the ATS-590, with push pin hardware, and the ATS-619, with maxiGRIP mounting hardware, starts at under $7.00 and $14.00 respectively, per unit in volume orders.

Sign up for ATS’s Electronics Cooling: Challenges and Solutions pre-conference workshop at Zero Downtime 2007 today! Increase your awareness of thermal science and current design issues during this Nov. 5th workshop in Scottsdale, Az.! Get more information and sign up at: www.EquipmentProtectionMagazine.com/zero07_workshops.htm

Emerson Network Power has released four models of the Liebert DS system and a new condenser system for the Liebert DS that eliminates the performance penalties associated with switching to green refrigerants. The Liebert DS, a precision cooling system used to control temperature, air quality and humidity in controlled environments such as data centers and computer rooms, is the only precision cooling system to use digital scroll compressors to achieve unprecedented reliability, adaptability and efficiency.

The new models extend the Liebert DS product line to include 53 kW, 70 kW, 77 kW and 105 kW downflow units. With the new Liebert ParadenserT the Liebert DS can be installed using traditional refrigerants and later transitioned to green refrigerants with no loss in capacity. Traditional condenser systems lose as much as 15 percent of capacity when converting to green refrigerants.

The Liebert DS system also features the iCOM control system that enables increased inter-unit coordination and provides advanced diagnostics and service capabilities. A new blower drive system also significantly reduces maintenance. The system includes a five-year belt, permanently lubricated 200,000 hour bearings and an auto-tensioning motor base that eliminates the need for manually tightening the belts.

PDI Releases J Comm Underfloor Branch Circuit Monitoring System

Power Distribution, Inc. (PDI) has released a new method to incorporate the PDI Branch Circuit Monitoring System (BCMS) into a new or existing data center. The J Comm BCMS system fits under the raised floor and will monitor current, voltage and other power related measures for up to 168 branch breakers. The compact design of this new innovation make it easy to install and will help data center managers track and control the power usage in all distribution equipment.

PDI's BCMS system is at the heart of this system and is used to monitor each individual circuit branch breaker and prevent overloading any of these circuits. The J Comm system has two BCMS communication boards and interface modules for either split core or solid core current transformers. With the J Comm system installed under the floor, users will also have either a Modbus or SNMP connection to the building management system.

The protection relay manufacturer Vamp is launching a flexible multi-zone arc-protection system onto the US market for low and medium voltage electrical power safety applications. The system's ability to trip in just 7 milliseconds means that electrical arcs are stopped well before their full explosive potential can be reached. This not only minimizes the damage and downtime that arcs can cause to electrical switchgear, but also avoids the need for much of the expensive and time consuming safety clothing and procedures that are currently used by many workers in these plant areas.

Designated 221, the new multi-zone system uses light and current sensing information to provide faster and more efficient protection than standalone over-current relays or busbar differential schemes. Combined with modular design, which allows the base unit to be expanded, the new system serves an extremely broad range of electrical switchgear protection requirements.

The master 221 module comes with 3-phase current measurement (and 2-phase and earth-fault current measurement), 50BF breaker failure protection stages, four normally open trip contacts, and two alarm contacts. It can be programmed to sense electric arc conditions using either simultaneous light and current data, or light sensor information only, and operates in just 7 milliseconds.

With four light zones available, the 221 unit offers a highly flexible arc protection solution that can accommodate a wide variety of equipment configurations, ranging from simple single-cabinet applications, to complex configurations with selective tripping of busbar, breaker and cable compartments.

Up to three different I/O units are available to extend the system's capability and configuration flexibility. The choice of expansion modules includes a 10-channel point sensor I/O unit, a I/O module which supports up to 76 yard of fiber cable light sensor in up to three loops, plus a separate over-current I/O unit that will expand the feeder monitoring capability of the overall system to up to 16.

Waytek Now Offers Power Distribution Modules

Waytek recently added the Power Relay Module and the Power Fuse Module to their extensive line of electrical wiring supplies. The Power Relay Module contains two new female fuse positions and a sealed 70 amp relay (relay is included). One of these fuses protects the relay and the other is a single-circuit inline fuse. It is available with or without an output connector and works with the JCASE cartridge style fuses.

The Power Fuse Module holds only two fuses - each a separate circuit. A silicone seal and removable cover offer a weather-tight enclosure for the fuse positions.