PC/104 (aka PC104) system components are small, reliable, easy-to-use, cost-effective, scalable, and powerful computer system building blocks used for a variety of industrial applications. PC104 is simply the PC ISA bus repackaged for industrial use. These 3.6" X 3.8" modules are nearly the size of a 3.5" floppy disk. Electrically, the PC104 bus is the same as the ISA bus with the exception that the drive capability is limited to about 4 mA.

The number 104 in PC104 refers to the amount of connector pins. The connectors are self-stacking which eliminates the need for a backplane or card cage. PC104 boards can be used as standalone components or stacked one on top of another or stacked on a single board computer in a mezzanine fashion.

PC/104-Plus (aka PC104+, PC104-Plus ) is the PCI implementation of PC/104. A 120-pin connector was added directly across from the PC104 connector to support the 33 MHz PCI bus. Just like PC104, PC104+ expansion is achieved by stacking boards on top of each other. The PC104+ specification allows up to 4 PC104+ I/O cards to be added to the stack. High-speed PC104+ I/O cards currently available include video, 10/100 Ethernet, audio, frame grabbers, motion control and DSP boards. Choosing a Single Board Computer or module that supports both PC104 and PC104+ buses will increase your expansion options now and in the future.

WinSystems builds single board computers with x86 compatible processors so that they can support industry standard software such as Linux, Embedded Linux, Windows Embedded NT, Windows Embedded XP, Windows CE, and DOS plus other PC-compatible Operating Systems / Real-time Operating Systems (RTOS). Our Single Board Computers are available in a number of sizes and formats and each have expansion capability, typically either PC/104 ( PC104 ) or PC/104-Plus. There are many different board sizes available from manufacturers of single board computers. WinSystems supports the industry standard EBX form factor of 5.75" X 8.00", the PC104 and PC/104-Plus form factor of 3.60" X 3.80", and the STD Bus form factor of 4.50" x 6.50". (More information regarding the EPIC Spec, EBX Spec, EBX Mech, and EPICExpress can be found throughout our website.)

A Solid State Disk (SSD) is a device that emulates and replaces rotational storage media. It replaces the need for a floppy or hard disk drive. Since a SSD has no moving parts, it offers a significant reduction in power consumption and increased reliability. All of WinSystems® single board computers, PC104, PC/104-Plus, EBX, and STD Bus form factor boards introduced in the last 5 years support SSD. WinSystems offers both DiskOnChip and Compact Flash SSD solutions.

CompactFlash (CF) is a small, removable mass storage device used for both commercial and industrial applications. CF cards are a worldwide industry standard which have been shipping since 1995. They have a storage capacity of up to 8 GB. A CF card contains an onboard intelligent controller that manages interface protocols, data storage, and retrieval as well as ECC, defect handling and diagnostics, power management and clock control. CFlash modules can emulate an IDE hard drive. This mode is electrically compatible with an IDE disk drive which makes it possible to support an operating system without a special flash driver. CFlash is also removable by design and makes a good solution for applications that require data removal or easy software upgrades.