If you talk about computer protection and people automatically assume you are discussing anti-virus and anti-spyware software. At a pinch they may suggest that looking after data is also high on their list of security measures. But what if your computer gets stolen and it contains a lot of your personal date? Even worse what f it contains the private data of your customers?

The media is full of tales regaling the security services for leaving laptops and disks on trains and in bars but it’s not just government agencies that are responsible for data protection. Since 1998 and the introduction of the Data Protection Act it is now the responsibility of everybody that holds personal data.

It is not just laptops that get stolen either. While the average electronic notebook is a handy size for any thief, each year, tens of thousands of PC’s get stolen too!

Computers now find their way in many environments from the office to the shop floor and even in many public areas.

If a PC gets stolen then so does all its data along with it too. In fact even throwing a computer out after it has packed-in can often lead to trouble as hard rives have been found in second hand computer shops and even Internet auction sites containing important data.

Industrial computer cabinets or sometimes known as computer safes or computer enclosures are an ideal solution to prevent the theft of a computer and its data. These lockable safes can be bolted to walls or floors and can prevent even the most determined thief from getting to the enclosed PC.

These units are ideal for anywhere that a computer might be left unattended. Many of these units are resistant to the elements that a computer in some industrial environments may be exposed to. The cold, heat, rain, dust, dirt and fluids can all be kept at bay if the right computer cabinet is used, many of which are rated to both international and European standards. They can even be left confidently outside in the elements and will not only protect from any potential thief or vandal but also will withstand whatever the weather throws at it.

By using an computer enclosure or safe, can be placed in areas where it may have been unconceivable to put a computer before.  These sorts of industrial computer cabinets are used worldwide and are located in all sorts of environments from police stations, schools, colleges and information points in the high street.

Computers are now to be found every where from our offices and homes to inside our cars and even washing machines.  Computers are now being tasked to do jobs in all sorts of industry from finance to heavy production plants.

However, not all environments are suited to a computer. Computers are electronic instruments and like any other electrical items they are sensitive to many elements that are found in some of these environments.

Industrial and manufacturing areas have high levels of dust, while food processing plants tend to be awash with water, while other working areas offer equally hazardous environments such as excessive heat or the risk of heavy impact.

Unfortunately computers find many of these elements far too hostile to work in. Most computers are designed and built to reside in offices of homes and are therefore not equipped to deal with excessive dust, water, vapours, grime, grease, high temperatures or heavy impacts.

There specialist rugged and durable industrial computers available but thee tend to run out-dated components and software to keep them reliable and also can cost the Earth. These dedicated solid state machines are also cumbersome to repair or upgrade as they tend to be intrinsically sealed and can only be repaired by service engineers; this often means costly production downtime.

The solution for many industrial computer administrators is to use a standard computer and house it an industrial computer cabinet. These industrial computer enclosures will protect an enclosed PC and monitor from the elements. Many of these enclosures offer national IP rating or NEMA rating which guarantee protection from water, dust and vapour.

The main advantage of an industrial computer cabinet with an enclosed PC is that if offers far more flexibility than a bespoke industrial computer, many of which are lagging behind the specifications of standard desktops. An industrial computer enclosure can house any machine and makes repairing or replacing the unit inside the computer cabinet an easy task.

This not only avoids downtime but also ensures industrial computer administrators have the right equipment with the right specifications for the right job.

We are all aware by now of computer identity theft, computer theft and data losses. Nearly every week it seems some high level civil servant of intelligence chief has left a laptop on a train or a memory stick in a pub and we are constantly being reminded on being careful with the information we throw out.

Yet in the UK alone identity theft costs £1.7 billion a year with fraudsters taking any opportunity to swipe data for their own purposes.

However, it is not just our bank statements and laptops that we need to protect, what about your desktop PC? The office and home computer is often overlooked when it comes to security but each year tens of thousands of desktop PC’s are stolen, along with the data kept on their hard-drives.

There have even been some high level cases where hard-drives have ended up on Internet auction sites packed full of sensitive data. You may even have a legal obligation to protect it. If you computers contain sensitive data from a customer and that machine gets stolen, you could find yourself in breach of the Data Protection Act.

A simple and inexpensive solution is to house your computer tower/ desktop processor in a computer safe or computer cabinet.

These are often small, discrete units where a computer can be housed in a lockable steel enclosure. These lockable computer safes can be fastened to walls or floors and can be built to be resistant to theft, tampering and vandalism.

Many computer systems are kept in public or exposed areas which obviously makes them more at risk but a lockable computer safe can make sure you have done everything reasonably possible o protect your customer’s data.

Computer cabinets like these can also add protection to computers not just from thieves and vandals but also from many of the elements that computers find incredibly hostile, such as dirt, dust, liquid and grease.

Industrial Computer Enclosures come in a multitude of varieties suitable for nearly every application. and environment. Some enclosures offer Euroepan IP rated and NEMA coded protection.

Here are a variety of enclosures:

All Products courtesy of Armagard

Computers, monitors and other electrical equipment are now just as commonplace in industry and manufacturing as they are in the office or home. Unfortunately however the demands on electrical equipment such as computers are completely different in industrial environments than those placed on the office PC.

Industrial environments tend to be dirty and grimy and contain plenty of contaminants that are harmful to sensitive electronics including water and dust.

Fortunately a European IP (Ingress Protection) system for classifying the degrees of protection provided for electrical equipment has been developed by the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC), these standards are designed to numerically rate an electrical product on the level of protection its afforded. By assigning different number codes, the product’s degree of protection can be identified quickly and easily. In the code IP65, for example, IP identifies the standard, the 6describes the level of protection from solid objects, and 5 describes the level of protection from liquids.

IP65 and IP54 are the most commonly used in the manufacture of electrical products for use in industry. An IP65 rated product will be fully protected against dust and airborne particles whilst also be protected against water jets which would allow the machine to be washed down, while an IP54 rating offers dust protection (but not total) and protects against splashing of water but not wash-down. IP ratings do go higher than IP65 (IP68 would provide complete dust and underwater protection) but they are rare and excessive for the majority of industrial applications.

Many industrial computers are built to IP65 standard but unfortunately this can have major drawbacks when it comes to repairs and upgrades of the units. To have qualified for IP65 the industrial computer would have had to be sealed so as to prevent dust and water from invading the sensitive components. Unfortunately this means if the computer has to be repaired or upgraded then an engineer would need to be called.

Intrinsically sealed IP65 or IP54 industrial computers are also highly expensive. They are often solid state which although means they are rugged and reliable also means they are near-to-impossible to upgrade.

Fortunately a solution to expensive IP rated specific machines is to house a standard computer or other electrical device in an IP65 or IP54 rated industrial enclosure.

These industrial cabinets have a huge advantage over specifically designed IP rated equipment in that they can house conventional equipment. This provides a double cost saving in that the standard equipment such as an off-the-shelf PC will cost a fraction of the cost of the solid-state IP rated industrial computer. Also when it comes to upgrade, repairs or replacement the same enclosure can be used and the equipment taken out without the need of a costly engineer.

Furthermore, an Industrial enclosure manufactured to IP65 or IP54 will last a lot longer than a specific IP rated piece of equipment with some enclosures able to survive and offer compete dust and water protection for decades while a conventional industrial machine will be lucky to last even four or five years.

Most companies sail right through a recession or credit crunch and don’t know the difficulties that they face until something happens. The roof may start leaking and it is then you realise the overdraft is empty or the company fleet needs replacing and suddenly the difficulties of the banks effects you.

One of the most costly headaches for any business, whether large or small, is keeping on top of the IT. Computers advance at an exponential rate they seemingly double in power and performance every year and are often out-of-date before you have them fully installed. For this reason most computers are not manufactured for a long life.

Computer manufacturers certainly don’t over-engineer their products, why would they? They know that the life of an average PC is no longer than two or three years but when it comes to tightening our belts, this can cause problems.

When one computer fails you can be sure it won’t be long before the It department’s phone starts ringing constantly with machines giving up the ghost, left right and centre.

The reason for the computer failure isn’t just down to the inadequacy of the components, left in ideal conditions even the cheapest desktop will run without problems for over a decade but unfortunately very few of us work in ideal conditions.

Workplaces, even the cleanest of offices, are full of hostile elements for computers. Dust, liquid spills, impacts, central heating and inpatient users; all shorten the life of a PC. And when a machine is installed in an industrial area such as a warehouse or production line things get worse.

There are bespoke industrial computers of course, but these are highly expensive and certainly overkill for a normal office or goods-in cabin. Industrial computers are also difficult to repair and upgrade and often require specialist engineers for even the simplest of repairs.

Fortunately computer cabinets and industrial computer enclosures are manufactured to houe conventional PC’s. These computer enclosures can house a computer, monitor and even input devices or just the computer tower itself. They can protect from the harshest industrial areas, often with IP or NEMA rating, guaranteeing protection from water and dust. Or they can be used to offer discrete protection to office computers. Tucked under the office desk a computer cabinet can add years to the life a PC.

It may surprise many people to learn that computer workstations harbour far more bacteria and germs than the average toilet seat. It has been said that many of the minor illnesses that keep people off work are actually caused by workstations and the office environments.

Many offices can be described as sick, in that they Are areas that cause ill health, through lack of ventilation, bad lighting and the germs that congregate around workstations .

The main reasons that computer workstations harbour so much filth, with diseases such as E-coli and MRSA having been discovered on office keyboards and computer mouse is that they can be difficult to clean.

Keyboards in particular are notorious to get clean. Coffee and food spills fall between the keys and provides a veritable banquet for germs to spread.

Fortunately manufacturers are now realising the potential harm that computer equipment can cause. Medical keyboards have been distributed throughout clinical wards in an attempt to curb the amount of hospital acquired infections.

These silicone and bacteria resistant keyboards are also now being used for industrial applications. The flat keyboards are designed to leave no hiding place for germs and the silicone materials allow the keyboards to be doused in water, essential for keeping bacteria at bay, particularly in food processing areas. However, these washable keyboards are now being utilised by regular offices as people become aware of the bacteria’s and germs that can be harboured.

A medical mouse, also made from silicone, is also now becoming popular as computer mice are the most handled of computer peripherals.

Computer processor towers or desktop units can also harbour germs. The difficulties with actual electronic machinery is not just that they accumulate germs but being electrical they are difficult to clean as electronics and water do not mix.   Whilst computer cabinets are often used in industrial applications, office users are now using similar cabinets TO protect monitors and PC’s from water allowing them to be washed down.

EN 60529 is a European directive designed to specify degrees of protection provided by electronic enclosures.

EN 60529 is governed by CENELEC – The European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization. It is a standardized measure to ensure that computer enclosures can cope with certain criteria.

The directive gives a two digit IP rating (ingress protection) for each enclosure, these two digits represent the different types of protection. The first digit represents solid matter whilst the second digit represents liquid protection. As an example an IP 65 enclosure offers better dust protection but less water protection than an IP 54 unit.

The usefulness of the EN 60529 directive is testified by the number of businesses outside the EU that are starting to use the directive, despite their being an alternative.

The USA’s NEMA (National Electrical Manufacturers Association) has a similar rating system to the EU directive although NEMA rates ingress protection with a single number. Although NEMA has an alternative number to each IP rating, being only a single digit number there is less scope in the American system.

While it is possible to convert the NEMA rating system to the European rating it is not quite possible to do the conversion the other way around as there is less scope in the NEMA system (although the testing is argued to be more stringent).

Computers are now widely used in industrial processes. Many plants, factories and production lines are now fully automated and computers are essential in maintaining efficient productivity.

The environments of industry are not however, ideally suited for the sensitive nature of processors and electronics. Many industrial areas contain high levels of dust, dirt, water and fluids, there are often forklift trucks whizzing up and down isles and different machines and processes billowing out excessive heat.

All these elements can play havoc on a standard computer system. Dust will block vents, clog moving parts and even short circuit the machine, whilst the perils of water and electronics is obvious to most. Bangs from forklifts and heat from machines can also cause the life of a computer to drastically shorten.

For this reason special industrial computers have been manufactured for several decades by some highly reputable computer manufacturers. These machines can defend against all the hostile elements present in industrial environments because of their design. They are mostly manufactured solid state (without moving parts), rugged and intrinsically sealed to prevent ingress of water or dust.

It is however, this very design that causes the main problems with industrial computers. Because they are solid state and intrinsically sealed this makes upgrade and repair exceptionally difficult. The machines have to be taken offline and a specialist engineer has to be called. This downtime can be extremely costly if production has to stop until the unit is repaired/upgraded.

Many industrial computer administrators have to weigh up the costs of repairing/upgrading such a unit with the cost of down production time and opt to keep the machine running no matter how badly.

Industrial computer manufacturers attempt to solve this problem by only fitting steady and reliable components and software. This means that although he machines have tried and tested technology installed it is technology that is out of date this means that whatever processes the computer is controlling it is not doing it as efficiently as it should be.

A solution to this problem is very simple. Instead of buying these expensive industrial computers it is easier and more affordable to but normal, office computers running the components and software that you require for the task. To protect the computer from the industrial elements it can then be enclosed in an industrial computer enclosure. These afford exactly the same protection from hostile areas as a bespoke industrial computer, protecting form dust, dirt, water, fluids, grease, knocks, bangs, heat and extreme cold.

The benefit in using these enclosures is that repair, upgrade and replacement takes but a moment with the enclosure able to open up and the enclosed PC can be repaired upgraded or simply replaced.  By buying an industrial computer enclosure not only will it probably cost less than a bespoke industrial computer even including the standard PC that it is housing. But It will also save vast amounts of time and money by preventing the need for the production line or processes to stop while the computer is repaired or upgraded.

ATEX is the name commonly given to the European directives for controlling explosive atmospheres and the standards of equipment and protective systems used in them.  ATEX is now  law in all European Union countries with companies that have potentially explosive atmospheres legally obliges to ensure all equipment in ATEX zones complies with the directive.

Explosive atmospheres do not just occur in chemical facilities. Explosive atmospheres are actually incredibly common in the food production industry. Many substances from flour, coffee, sugar and even custard can hold the potential to cause an explosion.

Dust is the primary reason for explosive atmospheres. If an area has a high constitution of say organic dust (such as custard or sugar) a small spark could be enough to set off a catastrophic explosion.

For this reason, industries that deal with such substances have to zone-off all their areas. Zone 0 is described in ATEX as having the highest and most dangerous levels of potential explosive risk whilst zone 2 are areas that have the potential, albeit remotely.

In zoning their areas many companies assume that all zones have to offer the same protection against explosions and they spend vast sums ensuring all electrical equipment satisfies Zone 0. However, this is not the case and many manufacturers in the food industry are literally wasting money in ensuring all equipment satisfies the ATEX directives.

In many areas labelled as Zone 2 for instance specialist intrinsically sealed industrial computers, printers and monitors are installed at great cost when in fact a simple and cheap conventional PC could be used as long as it is housed in a Zone 2 industrial computer enclosure.

Zone 2 industrial computer enclosures are available from many manufacturers and these intrinsically sealed cabinets are vastly cheaper, even including the housed PC than a bespoke sealed industrial computer.