Arestech MERA-3100-3L 8th/9th Gen Intel Core Extended Temperature Fanless Industrial PC with 3x GbE

Retrofit projects often come down to the space left in an existing cabinet, and a computer that is a few centimeters too tall can force a new enclosure. The Arestech MERA-3100-3L is the 73 mm-high model in the MERA-3100 series, a compact fanless industrial PC that keeps the Core i3, i5 and i7 compute, six COM ports and isolated DIO of its larger siblings.

Compute comes from 9th or 8th Gen Intel Core i3, i5 or i7 desktop processors in the 35 W LGA1151 class, from the four-core i3-8100T to the eight-core i7-9700TE at up to 3.8 GHz, on an Intel Q370 chipset. Two DDR4 2400/2666 SO-DIMM sockets hold up to 64 GB, and Intel UHD Graphics 630 drives VGA and DVI-D at up to 1920 x 1200 plus a DisplayPort output at up to 4096 x 2160, so one MERA-3100-3L can drive three screens.

The MERA-3100-3L carries one removable and one internal 2.5″ SATA bay, which allows a mirrored pair, plus two CFast sockets shared with mSATA for a separate boot drive. Networking runs on an Intel i219-LM and two Intel i210-AT GbE controllers with Wake-on-LAN and PXE. Six RS-232/422/485 DB9 ports with auto flow control, 8x isolated DI and 8x isolated DO, six USB 3.2 and two USB 2.0 ports connect controllers and peripherals. The enclosure measures 241.5 x 73 x 230 mm and weighs 3.3 kg.

Power enters through a 3-pin terminal block at 9 to 48 V DC, with ignition sensing, a PC/car mode switch and protection against over-voltage up to 52 V, reverse voltage and over-current. With a 35 W processor the MERA-3100-3L runs fanless from -40 °C to 70 °C, and Arestech offers an external fan kit for 65 W processors at up to 60 °C. Vibration is rated at 5 Grms and shock at 50 G, and the fanless industrial PC wall or stand mounts. Where four removable bays are needed, the MERA-3110-3L is the next step up, and the MERA-3110-7L adds seven GbE ports.