How does the design perform in shock tests like MIL-S-901D?
The main shock threat to a high performance computer system lies in the storage functions. Rotational media tends to be the weakest link in the system. Isolating the hard drives using floating visco-eleastic medium in conjunction with an extremely stiff (ie. High first resonant frequency) chassis aids in reducing deflections which damage the HDD platters. Crystal Group was able to pass MIL-S-901D grades A and B testing with such an isolation system. While this is possible with rotational media, we do recommend solid state hard drives for shock pulses over 40G, 11msec duration. A crude estimate on the 901D test levels are 800-1000G for 25msec. The next area of concern is the power supply which typically contains heavy toriods, transformers, and heatsinks. These items are modified in the Crystal server to survive high G shock and vibration loads with a 901D kit if the customer so chooses to implement. Ask for a copy of the RS112 MIL-S-901D test report.
