Contradata is pleased to present the new quick starter set by congatec AG for COM Express Type 7 modules which is the basic element for OEMs for the design of modular micro servers. This new “starter set” simplifies the evaluation of the first server-on-modules developed in compliance with the COM Express standard with PICMG pinout Type 7, ready to be used on a global scale for the development of cloud, edge and fog servers. Designers can simplify and reduce the efforts related to the validation of their carrier board layouts, thanks to the possibility of re-using design schemes for PCB boards and components already available and developed following the best procedures for the implementation of their dedicated modular microservers. congatec provides free of charge the diagrams of the new carrier board (conga-X7/EVAL) to all registered customers.
This new "quick starter set" proposed by congatec is ideal for the design of microservers for applications in the Industry 4.0 environment that need to communicate in real-time, redundant fog servers and cloudlets (mini data centers) for transcoding data located on the periphery of carrier-grade infrastructures operating on a large scale. The set supports commercial temperature ranges (from 0 to 60 ° C) and extended (from -40 to + 85 ° C) for use in harsh environment or in public transport applications and can be used on a universal scale. Thanks to the presence of 4x 10 Gbit ports and 1x 1 Gigabit Ethernet port, 4x USB 3.0 ports and the BMC (Baseboard Management Controller) module that supports VGA, iKVM and virtual storage functions, the new congatec evaluation carrier board can be used immediately in any standard test environment.
Conga-X7/EVAL evaluation carrier board: a look in depth
The conga-X7/EVAL evaluation carrier board for server-on-module in COM Express format with pinout Type 7 has four 10 Gigabit Ethernet SFP+ ports, which can be equipped with optical transceivers (XFP) or copper, in addition to a 1x Gigabit Ethernet port. For server expansion the card includes 32 PCI Express channels (lane) implemented in the form of 1 PCIe x 16 slot, 1 PCIe x8 slot and 2 PCIex4 slots. Additional expansions include 4 USB 3.0 / 2.0 ports and a COM port from the module. The features of the IPMI (Intelligent Platform Management Interface) interface include the BMC (Board management Controller) module that supports a VGA interface for local displays as well as iKVM to transfer keyboard, mouse and video signals over a network LAN and thus allow remote management. For SSDs (or HDDs), 2x SATA Gen 3 interfaces are available in addition to the already mentioned PCIe channels that support the NVMe protocol for mass storage devices operating at high speed. Other important features include interfaces for LPC, I2C, SM bus, 8-bit GPIO and fan control. The power supply supports ATX PSUs as well as 12 V power supply with banana plug.
The set is supplied with the conga-B7XD module, available with various processor versions.
For the development of custom projects, congatec makes available to registered users the circuit diagrams of the PCB and the BOM (Bill Of Material).
