Disaster preparation is a case of “hope for the best, plan for the worst.” We train, develop plans, and invest in equipment that we hope we never have to use. But whether by fire or flood, earthquake or hurricane, the time will inevitably come when your preparations are tested.
When it does, you will need equipment that can handle the worst possible conditions, where things like power and a functional roof over your head are not guaranteed. When this time comes, you will need rugged PCs for disaster relief that can take a beating and continue working.
Industrial Grade Components
Given the sheer chaos that follows a natural disaster, there’s no way to fully predict what threats your computers might face. At bare minimum, though, you should expect a degree of physical violence against any device, whether this is from being dropped or mishandled, struck by debris, or rattled around. The most common features for protecting a rugged computer during a disaster include:
Impact and Drop Resistance
During a disaster, equipment is extremely likely to be struck, dropped, or knocked from its workstation. Whether it’s a piece of debris or a collapsing shelf, any rugged PCs for disaster relief must be built to handle strikes and impacts. Certification standards like IEC 60068 provide guidelines on what kind of mistreatment a rugged PC should be able to withstand.
While your typical consumer-grade device is not built to these standards, truly rugged computers and tablets will be designed and manufactured with them in mind, leading to less broken equipment
Crack-Resistant Screens
As anyone who’s dropped their phone can tell you, the screen is often the first thing to break on an electronic device. It’s one thing when it’s your smartphone, however. It’s far more dire when the screen on your tablet breaks when you’re trying to use it to coordinate disaster relief efforts.
If a device with a glass screen is used in high-risk environments, such as a rugged tablet, that screen should be chemically treated to resist cracks, scratches, and scuffs. This is accomplished through a process called ion exchange, where glass is submerged in a molten salt solution that replaces sodium ions within the glass with larger potassium ions. This leads to less space between molecules, creating a stronger, more compressed surface that resists damage better.
Shocks and Vibration
In certain disaster scenarios, such as earthquakes and storms, electronic devices can experience extreme vibrations that can shake internal components loose, dislodge connectors, and break circuitry. Computers mounted onto machinery or disaster relief vehicles can experience similar vibrations as they travel over damaged roads or uneven terrain.
Rugged computers counter this through design features such as soldering components directly onto the motherboard and using more secure connectors that prevent components from coming unplugged. They’ll also use components that are more resistant to vibration thanks to their design, such as solid-state drives rather than hard disk drives.
Ingress Protection
Disaster areas are not known for being clean and orderly places. Any equipment used in these spaces is likely to get dirty or wet, which can quickly and easily disable a consumer-grade device. To protect against this, rugged PCs used in disaster relief implement casings and front bezels with high ingress protection ratings, such as IP65.
This locks dust and water out from reaching the vulnerable electronic components, preserving their functionality even in harsh work environments.
Uninterrupted Power Supply
During a disaster, power is often one of the first things lost, as lines are severed or torn down. When this happens, valuable work can be lost in the blink of an eye.
The best solution to prevent this is to use computers with uninterruptible power supplies (UPS). These devices can be large enough to provide backup power for an entire building, or small enough to fit inside an individual device (with the latter being far more economical).
An internal UPS can provide power for up to several hours, which gives employees time to continue working until power is restored, or at least enough to save their work and shut down properly.
Multiple Connectivity Options
Similar to power outages, there’s no guarantee that wired Internet connections will be available during a disaster. Additionally, computers used in disaster relief must often interface with other equipment, such as drones used in search and rescue, meteorology devices, and mobile communications.
In addition to wired connectivity options like USB and serial ports, disaster relief PCs and tablets should have wireless options like WiFi, Bluetooth, and 4G/5G LTE to ensure consistent communications, even while in disaster areas.
Prepare for the Worst with Cybernet Computers
The sad truth is there is no way to prevent natural disasters on the scale that Mother Nature can throw at us. The best we can do is train, plan, and prepare for when the worst comes. An essential part of that preparation is having the right equipment at hand, and in our digital age, that means computers that can handle the worst a disaster area can throw at them.
Looking for rugged, reliable computers and tablets you can use to endure disasters or handle recovery operations? Contact the experts at Cybernet Manufacturing. With decades of experience in designing and manufacturing PCs and tablets, we can customize disaster relief computers to your exact specifications, and our commitment to quality ensures our products boast a failure rate below 0.5%.