The Low profile ATX Blade is Cluster In Motion typical compute node for our Personal Cluster Workstation (The ClusterStation). This ATX blade is 2U wide (3.5"). Our preferred ClusterStation configuration hosts one head or master node in 3U wide Full ATX blade and 6 low profile ATX blades as compute nodes.
To accomodate different computing density, the ClusterStation Case design can host different Blades sizes ranging from standard "thickness" such as 1U, 2U and 3U to non standard form factors like our Micro-ATX Blade which is 2.65" heigh equivalent to what would be the height or thickness of a 1.5U rackmount case. Despite its compact size, this Low profile ATX Blade accomodates any Full, Flex or Micro ATX motherboard, and any standard ATX Power Supply unit and up to two hard drives. it can alo support up to four low profile PCI or AGP cards without the extra-cost of riser cards.
This patent pending design supports ATX standard compliant components which qualifies it as a 'Low profile ATX Blade"
One of the unique features of this Low-Profile ATX Blade is its ability to host dual opteron motherboards like the MSI K8T Master2-FAR from MSI shown in this picture. This motherboard has its AGP slot clearly shifted to the third position making it impossible to use traditional AGP or PCI riser cards used in 1U and 2U rackmount cases. Our blade has 4 vertical slots to accomodate low-profiles AGP and PCI cards. In tthe case of this dual Opteron motherboard, the third slot of our blade can be used for an AGP video card, while the fourth slot could be used for an additional PCI Gigabit Ethernet network interface card.
Key Features
- Weight:: ultra light weight :2 lbs only for the blade alone and about 7lbs when loaded with parts.
- Dimension: 3.5" x 20" x10.35" (WxHxD)
- Material: Aluminum (0.063" thick)
- Slots : 4 slots for low profile AGP or PCI cards
- Hard-drive support: Internal bracket (lip) to support two hard drives
- Audio: 2" square frame Micro-Speaker 0.4w
- Status indicators: 2 Leds for Power ON and HDD activity.
- Push-buttons:On/Off push-button with green cap and 1 Reset button with red cap.
- Venting: Venting with oblong wholes under the processor, hard drive and power supply areas and a large rectangular whole between the power supply and the hard drive allows the air to circulate freely bteween the blades.
- Finish: Powder coated paint or Anodized color (Black, Blue or Red)