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Chapter 1
Introduction
The LCS Tower is a remote network communications system designed as a floor-standing desk-side Tower enclosure.
The LCS Tower is a passive backplane product available in several configurations. The concept of passive backplane technology is presented in the following section.
The Passive Backplane Concept
A typical computer has a motherboard with an expansion bus used for video, memory, or other Input/Output (I/O) boards. The motherboard's Central Processing Unit (CPU) controls these add-in cards. A passive backplane is a motherboard with the computer components removed, leaving only the expansion slots.
An ISA Passive Backplane with no CPU controlling it
The passive backplane in the LCS Tower is like a computer with no CPU. It is simply a row of standard 16-bit Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) or 32-bit Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) expansion slots.
Segmented Passive Backplanes
All expansion slots in a passive backplane are interconnected with electronic traces, creating a 16-bit, or AT, bus. If these traces are removed, the backplane's expansion slots can be grouped into smaller independent backplanes, or segments.
A Backplane Divided Into Multiple Segments
Combining Technologies
When a Cubix Bus Controller (BC) Series plug-in CPU card is inserted into one of the slots in a segment of the LCS Tower, the combination becomes a computer. The remaining expansion slots in each segment are used by the BC processor in the same way a standard computer would use its expansion slots.
A Passive Backplane with a CPU Card Installed
Cubix's BC Series 80x86-based processors include system memory, built-in floppy and hard drive controllers, keyboard controller, VGA support, and serial and parallel ports. By connecting drives, a monitor and a keyboard to the BC processor, a user has a complete AT-class PC. By adding a network interface controller (NIC) to the bus that the BC processor is controlling, it becomes a fully functional network file server or workstation.
The LCS Tower consists of a desk-side enclosure with a 16-slot standard ISA or EISA passive backplane divided into segments. Also included is a disk drive bay capable of housing at least one 3.5" third height disk drive per segment. Since the backplane is a standard component, it supports PC-compatible boards such as network interface controllers (NICs). With a BC Series card and a NIC inserted into each segment, the LCS Tower can provide multiple network workstations in a single enclosure.
The LCS Tower can be configured for numerous network applications, such as:
* Remote Communications
* Tape Backup
* Multiprotocol Router
* External Bridging
* Async Bridges
* Gateway to Mainframes
* CDROM Servers
* Database Servers
* Print Servers
* Fax Servers
* RS 422 or RS 485 Communications Controllers
* LANMonitoring Software and Hardware
The applications are limited only by the number of segments and available slots in the LCS Tower.
The LCS Tower is available in several configurations:
Tower Server
The Tower Server is a single-segment backplane with eight EISA slots and eight ISA slots. With a BC Series EISA board installed, the Tower Server is functionally equivalent to an EISA server with seven EISA expansion slots and eight ISA expansion slots. Nine 3.5" third height disk drive bays and one drive opening are provided.
Tower One
The Tower One is a singlesegment 16-slot ISA backplane. With a BC Series board installed, the Tower One is functionally equivalent to an AT-class computer with fifteen expansion slots. Nine 3.5" third height disk drive bays and one drive opening are provided.
Tower Two
The Tower Two is a 16-slot segmented ISA backplane with two segments. One segment contains ten slots, and the other segment contains six slots. With a BC Series board installed in each segment, the Tower Two is functionally equivalent to two AT-class computers with multiple expansion slots. Nine 3.5" third height disk drive bays and two drive openings are provided.
Tower Three
The Tower Three is a 16slot segmented ISA backplane with three segments. One segment contains ten slots, and the other two segments contain three slots each. With a BC Series board installed in each segment, the Tower Three is functionally equivalent to three AT-class computers with multiple expansion slots. Nine 3.5" third height disk drive bays and three drive openings are provided.
Tower Seven
The Tower Seven is a 16-slot segmented ISA backplane with six individual segments of two slots, plus an additional four slot segment. With a BC Series board installed in each segment, the Tower Seven is functionally equivalent to six AT-class computers with one expansion slot plus one additional computer with three expansion slots. Nine 3.5" third height disk drive bays and seven drive openings are provided.
Tower Eight
The Tower Eight is a 16-slot segmented ISA backplane with eight individual segments of two slots each. With a BC Series board installed in each segment, the Tower Eight is functionally equivalent to eight AT-class computers, each with one expansion slot. Nine 3.5" third height disk drive bays and eight drive openings are provided.
Configuration Summary
Practically any application that requires a LAN workstation can be run in a properlyconfigured LCS Tower. Monitors, keyboards, and other I/O equipment can be connected to any of the segments in the backplane.
The following figures compare a Tower Three with three workstation PCs.
Tower Three
Three PC Equivalent Subsystem
This document, and all Web contents, Copyright © 1997
by Cubix Corp., Carson City, NV, USA.
