BB-ATX98 re-usuable Blade Computing System for Micro-ATX mainboards

 
NEW By popular request - We now support MicroATX motherboards!

• 8U - 9 blades, standard MicoATX motherboards, 3 possible modes of DC or AC power
• Built in support for a single PCIx16 expansion card, such as Video, RAID controller, Networking, etc.
• Fixed mount or hot-swap drive blade trays available
• High volume front to back cooling via eight 90mm fans
• Increased power handling for state of the art CPU's
• Works with most Micro-ATX mainboards available on the market today
• Support for high power processors, such as Xeon E3/E5 and i7 Extreme
• 250 watt DC-DC power inverter standard on all blades
• Optional 300 Watt (or more) Flex ATX power supply mounted on tray for high power render farms
• EZ-Glide tray access
• Locking tray docking with captive thumbscrew
• Front integrated panel buttons, LED's and USB ports on each blade tray
• Easy to service front air filter system
• Re-usable - simply repopulate the blade trays with the latest technology - no proprietary parts

 

The BB-ATX98 Blade system is designed around industry standard Micro-ATX architecture, and utilizes non proprietary off-the-shelf parts. It can be ordered as a build-it-yourself blade system where you provide the parts, or as a fully configured ready- to-run system built to your specifications. We offer a wide variety of motherboard, processor, and storage options.

Flexibility - DC power or AC power. Trays can have AC power supplies installed for high-demand processing.

Optional blade tray with up to four 2.5" hot swap drives 

 

Add a PCI Express card to enchance connectivity

 

 

BB-ATX98 Features at a glance

• Fully configurable blade server system supporting nearly all industry standard Micro-ATX mainboards
• Hot swap or fixed mount blade tray designs - your choice - mix and match in the same chassis
• Fixed mount trays support up to six 2.5" disk drives per blade tray (3 standard, 6 with optional stacking rails) for RAID, or three 3.5" standard disk drives
• Hot swap trays support up to four 2.5" disk drives per blade tray for RAID, JO
• Configuration for identical blades or a mixture of technology to meet application requirements
• Open frame blade tray design ensures unrestricted air flow and ease of service
• Eight 90mm cooling fans, for total front to back airflow of over 450 CFM
• Tray design enhances front to back cooling airflow path
• Support for CPU total power dissipation from under 20 watts to 250 watts per tray, 300+ watts possible with upgrade
• Built in front panel switches and LED's for power, and disk activity work with any motherboard
• Dual USB ports on front of the tray for diagnostics with USB drives, mice, or keyboards for troubleshooting
• Built in fan failure and over-temperature alarm alerts you visually, audibly, with mute/reset button
• Easy access to remove, clean, and replace the air filter or fans - just two thumbscrews!
• 12 Volts DC or 240/120Volts AC operation for fixed or mobile/remote deployments
• Unique power system design keeps power supply heat away from critical components
• Modular power supply system enables fast and easy replacement
• Built in wiring harness system enables secure and stable blade tray wiring
• Each tray is easily removable from the front with a single captive thumbscrew
• Locking front panel to prevent tampering or accidental interference
• Designed to be reconfigurable and reusable, upgradeable for long term ROI
• Rugged design using 16 gauge powder coated steel throughout, RoHS compliant

 

 

 

Broad applications - The BAB-AXT98 is suitable for use in most any application requiring servers, graphics render farms, remote KVM operated workstations, small business web and communications servers, or specialized process control systems that use PC based solutions. Anywhere you need high computing density, low power, and ease of servicing, this system can be configured to meet not only those, but most any need often filled by much more expensive and proprietary blade server systems.

As seen at left, blades can easily be removed from the chassis with one thumbscrew, sliding out the front of the chassis, with no interruption of service to other blades in operation.

Build-a-Blade systems are easy to configure, easy to manage, and provide an exceptional return on investment due to their low power nature, and their ability to be re-used when technology advances and you need upgraded CPU power.

 

Great ROI! - When you need a new washer/dryer at home, do you sell your house? Of course not! Build-a-Blade is based on the same concept, you simply upgrade the "appliances" (the blade trays) inside the house (the chassis) making for an exceptional Return On Investment that can span many years of service.

 

Support for RAID based blades - You can place up to six 2.5" hard disks or solid state drives on our standard BAB-AXT98 blade tray using the optional stacking rails.

Or, using our new HOT SWAP tray, you can put 4 HD or SSD drives onboard, giving you easy front panel access for maintenance and upgrades, as shown above.

 

Easy maintenance!  Our unique dual-hinged front door combines eight long-life 90mm cooling fans and an air filter in one easy to access system. Just two thumbscrews give you immediate access to the fans and air filter. The air filter is robust and re-usable, and cleans easily with compressed air or a rinse in water. See the images below.

Click to enlarge images.

 

Supports a wide variety of processors and motherboards -  Systems can be configured to be low power Atom based processors, such as the D525 dual core CPU with passive cooling at 1.8Ghz all the way up to XEON and Core i7 extreme processors. Our high volume front-to-rear air flow system supports motherboards up to 120 watts of power dissipation when combined with a low profile active CPU heatsinks.

 

Easy remote management - Just like any blade server system, remote management solutions of all kinds are supported, based on the hardware you choose.  These include hardware KVM switches, VNC, Windows remote desktop, and Intel IPMI, AMT, Remote Management Modules and others.

A unique power supply solution, so unique, we've applied for a patent - One of the biggest heat generators in computer chassis is power supplies, and they are also often the most vulnerable and difficult to replace components. Some proprietary solutions for existing blade systems use redundant power supplies driving a common power buss for all blades. While this can be effective, it is also expensive, and you are forced to purchase proprietary spare power supplies typically available from only one manufacturer.

In keeping with our non-proprietary industry standard components concept, our unique solution is to use multiple off the shelf AC to DC power bricks, much like laptop power supplies, and mount them on a rear rack-mounted tray as seen at left and  in the in-use installed photo at right. See our FAQs and the points below on why this design has many advantages.

 

This power delivery design solves several problems and makes service very easy:

• It gets the power supply heat out of the chassis - improving performance and reducing stress
• It allows for redundancy - no single power supply failure will take down all blades
• A wide variety of vendors supply these, you aren't locked to a single source
• It makes service very easy - if a supply fails, you simply unplug the cable, plug in a new supply, and you are running
• It improves efficiency - these switching power supply bricks have a high conversion efficiency
• It eliminates power supply fans - these supplies are designed to be open air cooled - no worries about dust filters or replacement fans specific to power supplies
• It allows for AC or DC operation - without the AC/DC power bricks, and you have a 12 volt DC ready system for remote/mobile deployment applications, or you can put a Flex-ATX AC to DC power supply right on the tray.

Fully scalable: start small, grow big - you can start small with a chassis and one blade, and add additional blades as needed. We sell starter kits you can populate yourself with your own components as well as fully configured turn-key ready to run systems.

 

 

See Our Store to choose a solution right for you.

For specifications, manuals, and other details, see our Spec-sheets and manuals page

Have questions? Need a quote for a pre-configured system? Contact support