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Computer Systems
(12/2006)
Computer System Architecture and Redundancy Considerations - Words of Wisdom:
"When I wake up in the morning, I wonder what broke while I was sleeping" Rudy Reineke, Top Cat, a former boat owner.
"Nothing like seeing Paradise from the bilge of the boat" Dan Sehnal, Galapagos
"The thought of hand steering OR installing our spare autopilot in rough seas was enough to make us decide to permanently install the spare backup autopilot." Alan Gillespie, Heartsong III, after sailing to New Zealand and pulling into the harbor just before the winds got nasty.
"If it is going to happen, it is going to happen out there!" Captain Ron (Movie)
"If something is going to fail, it will fail at the worst possible moment!" The Peter Principle
We took a different approach from most people to "protect" our computer resources - only time will tell if we were right -so far, so good, after 5 years of operation! Of course with time, we have replaced disk drives and computers. We have purchased new state-of-the art hardware and have upgraded our operating systems and software to stay current. The tables below reflect our current configurations as of December 2006.
Topics:
Computing Strategy
We built the computer system to be redundant. We decided to have two different computer systems, one a laptop, the other a desk top. We chose the laptop because of it's low current consumption. We chose the desktop because we wanted to interface many different devices to one machine and a laptop was not a good alternative to that. We also chose the desktop because we wanted to have a fully mirrored system to swap out our primary disk if our drive should fail. In addition, we purchased a spare desktop and cannibalized it for parts. Thus we have spare parts for each component of the desktop. This was a less expensive way of procuring spares. We simply removed the parts and the motherboard from the computer and tossed the chassis. We also have two other laptops on board. One is used for keeping personal and financial records and information and the other is used as a debugging / testbed and of course, either can be substituted for the primary navigation computer. (Comment after 5 years - Although the desktop spares strategy was sound and was a good solution for the first few years, in the long term it did not work well. When we recently (2005) inventoried our computer hardware, we found that the capacitors in the spare motherboard for the desktop had somehow been destroyed which made the motherboard worthless. Eventually we had to replace our disk drives. Two technology improvements impacted the hot swapable, mirrored system approach: Because it was difficult to get the necessary configuration replacements in 3rd world countries we wound up buying new external disk drives that had much higher capacity than the original disk drives and the new drives supported a USB 2.X interface, making interfacing of disk drives easy. Now we have 1/4 gigabyte of storage capacity, enough for all of our software, electronic charts and digital pictures (and this website.) Also, with the advent of USB technology and workable serial port to USB interfaces (Keyspan has provided very reliable interface) the need for the complex and expensive serial port interface from Equinox was not required. The Equinox board for the desktop only came as a full sized board requiring a large foot print desktop. By eliminating the Equinox board in favor of the USB hub, the large foot print desktop is no longer necessary. Consideration is being given to getting a small foot print desktop to replace the current machine, but as of this writing (Jan 2006) the desktop is running very well and we will hold off on replacing it.)
(Click on image to enlarge)
Aft facing area for Computer #1
Equipment Details
1 HP Pavilion 968OC Desktop computer
Greg Vance
941 275-9119
GCVance@HotMail.com
Runs Comm Equipment (IMARSAT-C, Pactor III, Wx Fax Downloads, Hot Swapable for Navigation System (See Argonaut below), mass storage backup, Graphics Applications, Dive Computer Interface, Web Site Development, Digital Camera, Dive Computer
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 2 Serial Ports + 8 Virtual Ports (Equinox)
 2 USB Ports
 1 Parallel Port
 Modem 56 KB
 Cold Swapable Disk Drive (Mirrored System)
 Intel Anypoint Network
 DVD
 R/W CDROM
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Spares include Mother Board, Power Supply, DVD, R/W CDROM, 80 Gig Hard Drive , Keyboards, Mice, Serial Port, Floppy Drive
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Toshiba Sat Pro (1995)
Used as Test equipment for NMEA Interfacing and backup to IMARSAT-C Communications
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 1 Serial Port
 1 Parallel Port
 12USB Port
 Modem, BT, WiFi
 External R/W CDROM
 Internal Modem 56KB
 Docking station
 Windows 95
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 Dell Laptop (2005)
Model: 9200
 Express Code: 15940267561
 Service Tag: 7BMF961
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 1 PCMCIA Port
 4 USB Ports
 Modem 5KB6
 DVD/CD RW Drive
 Modem, BT, WiFi
 17 Inch LCD Screen
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Toshiba Laptop
405 Satellite (2003)
Model: M15-S405
Runs Accounting and Personal Applications and
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 2 Serial Ports
 1 Parallel Port
 430711118P
 Windows XP Pro-SP2
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 Casio Cassiopeia
Pocket PC E-125
Runs Maptech Navigation Software w GPS Interface; Celestial Navigation Software, & contains DVD & Other ships lists of data
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 Includes Docking Station
 32 MB of internal RAM,
 expandable using CompactFlash memory cards
 Synchronize to your desktop with rapid USB data transfer Color screen with 240 x 320 in 65,536 color
 Includes Microsoft Pocket Word,
 Pocket Excel, Pocket Money,
 Pocket Internet Explorer
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Nauticomp
40 Lindsay Street South
Lindsay, Ontario, Canada
K9V2L8
705 328-2992
705 328-2990
Sales@Nauticomp.com - Ryan Moore
Support@Nauticomp.com
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Infinity Daylight Series Displays
Displays designed for shaded helm conditions
- Brightness 500 cd/m2 nits
- Pedestal, Flush or optional Embedded Mountings
- Variety of sizes to choose from
- NMEA 6/IP67 Sealed
- Configured for AC or DC Power
- Engineered Heat Dissipation
- Optional Upgrade to provide a Second Input for composite video and multiple resolution
- Optional Upgrade to provide Dim To Red or night vision
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Daylight LCD Cockpit Sunlight Series Monitor 12" TFT
Model: 18-1210
S/N:18-1210016
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Nauticomp
12 Volt DC Power Regulator
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For Nauticomp LCD unit above
12V to 12V Regulation / Noise Suppression
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Printer
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HP 5943 Series DeskJet Photo Printer
S/N: C9017C
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Printer
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HP PSC 1315 All-in-One
970 635-1500
S/N: Q5765-60014
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Printer
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Canon BJC 4300
800 423-2366
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 Quatech
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4 Port Serial I/O Expander
Quatech - 800 553-1170
Purchased from Capt'n Jacks
800 227-5225
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Live Man Mouse
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Logitech
(+ 1 spare)
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800 231-7717
702 269-3457 Customer Service
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Casecom
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80 GigaByte
3.5 " External Box
Model HDC-7320
S/N: LC-050510-003483
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Casecom
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160 GigaByte
3.5 " External Box
Model HDC-7320
S/N: LC-050510-003482
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Tecom
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BlueTooth Dongle
BT3035
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Cordless Mouseman Pro
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Logitech
(+2 spares)
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800 231-7717
702 269-3457 Customer Service
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Kensington Pocket Mouse
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Pro Wireless
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8 Port Serial I/O Expander
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Equinox
Model SST-8P
Part # 990301
List $545 -25%
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954 746-9000 x322 (Hot Line)
800 275-3500 x322 (Hot Line)
Sales: Mark X234 (Alt -247)
Support@Equinox.COM
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Keyboard & Mouse Combo
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Keytronics
Wireless Keyboards
(+ 2 spare keyboards)
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800 262- 6006
3808 N Sullivan Rd.
Bldg. 17 SIP
Spokane
Washington 99216
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Keyboard & Mouse Combo
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Belkin
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USB Hub 1
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Entrega
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4 Port Expansion 1.0
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USB Hub 2
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Belkin
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8 Port (In Reserve as Spare)
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USB Hub 3
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Techline
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4 Port Expansion 2.0
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USB to Serial Port Interface
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Keyspan
USA-19QW
http://www.keyspan.com/products/usb/USA19HS/
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 USB to Serial Port Hub (Quantity 2)
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Keyspan
cdwsales@web.cdw.com
http://www.keyspan.com/products/usb/USA49w/
4 serial ports per unit
Model 452774
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Part# USA-49WLC
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Transas Dongle
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Nobeltec
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0053-000000---21-037249
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Disk Cleaner
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Canon LiDE 80 USB2.0 Color Scanner
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With photo and film scanning
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Zyxel
Wireless USB 2.0 AP Adapter
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http://www.zyxel.com/product/model.php?indexcate=1085455224
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Computer Interfaces
The following equipment are interfaced to the computers as shown:
There are 2 interface diagrams, one each for each of the 2 computers. For a discussion of Port assignments click here. Each set of pin outs for ports 5,6, 7 and 8 were kept as consistent as possible to simplify the complexity of pin out assignments. The Tables below provide the interface and pin out assignments for both the HP Desktop and the Argonaut laptop with the following equipment:
Click below to see details:
Additional Onboard Computer interfaces
X10 Remote Video Monitor
X 10 Video Motion Detector
X10 Annunciator
Remote Video Receiver
VCR Interface
Remote VCR Controller/Interface
Dive Computer
Digital Microscope
Digital Camera
Heart Rate/Running Monitor - FItSense
Digital Recording Multi meter with Computer Interface
Dive Computer Interface - Uwatec
Midi Interface to Electric Keyboard
Software Components
Partial Listing of most used software
Product
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Company
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Phone
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Comment
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Trellix
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Global Scape
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800 290 5054
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089910-WEB-80025-501812
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Cute Site Builder
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Global Scape
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800 290 5054
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A8EWYGTHR98MC8
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Microsoft Office
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Microsoft
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800-900-0683
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Word, Excel, Access, etc.
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System Works
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Norton
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General PC Health
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Power DVD
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Cyberlink
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DVD Player
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Real Player
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Real Player
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Music
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VNS
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Nobeltec
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Navigation
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Mozilla Firefox
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Mozilla Firefox
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Internet Browser
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Quick Time Player
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Quick Time
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Video
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Airmail
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Airmail
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Email
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Getfax & Viewax
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Airmail
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Fax & GRIB
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Ray Tech
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Ray Marine
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Grib Files Viewer
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System 2000
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Ocens
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Wx & Satellite Receiver
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Spybot
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Kills bacteria
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Adobe Reader
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Adobe
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Visual Passage Planner
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Digital Wave
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+1-215-493-7463
877-5-DIGWAVE
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Digital Wave
P.O. Box 326
Fort Monmouth, NJ 07703
USA
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SKYPE
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SKYPE
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PC-based telephony
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DVDShrink
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DVDShrink
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DVD copy software
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Smart Trac
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Uwatec
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Dive Software
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Cakewalk Express
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12 Tone Systems
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Midi Interface Software
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AllWays Sync
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Backup Software
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USVXP-3E85-3D6D-073B-832D
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usov@syncapp.com
http://www.allwaysync.com/
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