The Advantages of Using a Single Board Computer

The term "single board computer", or SBC, is used to describe a certain class of computer that is made up solely of only one circuit board. Unlike the personal computers of today's information age which typically uses a motherboard for processing and memory components, along with a number of additional daughterboards to accommodate things like high-end graphics and audio, SBCs house the ports for everything; including input/output devices, memory, and even the graphical display all on one single board. While a machine like this is somewhat impractical for the everyday needs of your average computer user, single board computers do fill a very important niche within the computer industry.

But to understand the advantages of an SBC, you must not only understand its applications, but its history as well. The first machine to ever be considered a single board computer was known as the dyna-micro, though it was later renamed the MMD-1 (Mini Micro Designer 1). This was based on a very early 8-bit processor, the Intel 8080, and it even featured the earliest EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory) system that was created by Intel, as well. Even some of the first home computers, including the Acorn Electron and BBC Micro used a single board setup; though as the industry began seeing rapid developments in personal computer technology, SBC's were all but abandoned in home computers.

This would not render single board computers useless, however; and in fact developments and improvements continue to be made on SBC's to this day. Typically used in rackmount configurations or integrated with other industrial components for tasks such as CNC, factory automation, and telecommunication, single board computers are still a very relevant piece of machinery even in the technologically-advanced age of the 21st century.

Single board computers of today are based on one of two primary architectures - slot support and no slot support. SBCs with no slot support are commonly found in devices like slot machines and video poker machines. Those with slot support are typically used to provide extended I/O card connectivity, primarily because of the virtually unlimited slot configurations available, but also because of their small size, weight, and low power consumption, as well.

Today, most SBCs are intended to be used as a backplane, or the backbone of a computer system. Many computer professionals in the IT industry prefer this method of connecting additional components over the use of cables and wire as an SBC is much more reliable and less susceptible to mechanical failure, as well as being able to offer a much more comprehensive system, including legacy support for some older technologies that are still being used in various applications today.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-board_computer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backplane